The Mixed Tape
by thelightsandbuzz
Summary: She used to have the biggest crush on him…he rejected her. Now a senior, Lia meets her familiar-looking teacher. Karma, friendship, and love ensues. Follow their journey through the ups and downs of superhero life in the city of Maxville. Warren/OC. Finally complete!
1. Let the Flames Begin

**A.N. Hi everyone! Just thought I'd try my hand on fanfiction, starting with a Sky High story. I've always wanted to write a Warren/OC fic so here it is :) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High and any of its characters. All OC's are mine, and that's pretty much it (sad I know :)**

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**Prologue**

**A memory remains, just a tiny spark**

**I give it all my oxygen**

**To let the flames begin**

"_Because I like you Warren!" a girl in pigtails said as she faced a guy clad in a black leather jacket._

_Warren just shook his head, sure, he didn't have anyone to go to prom with, but he would never go with Mia. They might have been friends when they were younger, but he certainly did not have any kind of romantic feelings for her. Plus, she was different…weird different._

"_I told you Mia, I'm not going to prom with you. Now stop following me around wishing that I would ask."_

_Soon enough people started to notice the conversation between the two. Warren's friends did not want to be involved so they stood by a few feet away. The others in the hallway, however, just looked on out of mere curiosity, and the hope of fresh, new gossip._

"_Is it because I'm a sophomore? You don't want me to like you like you because I'm too young or something?" said Mia forlornly as she looked at her object of affection._

_Warren sighed in frustration as he finally noticed the crowd around them._

"_It's not because you're a sophomore! It's because you're some creepy stalker who won't leave me alone!" came Warren's loud response._

_Loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear, and the laughter started as if on cue. Warren walked away from Mia's shocked and embarrassed face. He quickly passed his friends who opened their mouths to say something, but didn't. The laughter continued, and Mia rushed outside, away from the jeers, the insults, and the fingers pointing at her. The only sympathetic face she saw was Nate's, her best friend, possibly her only friend at that time._

_Warren's rejection was a big blow for Mia, but deep in her mind she saw it coming, she was just not prepared for it. As she sat in the bus on her way home with people still snickering at her, she felt nothing but sadness and humiliation. She wanted to cry, but it was impossible for her to do so; she wasn't a person who cried easily, in fact, she couldn't remember a time when she actually cried. Tears came with difficulty for her, no matter how much she wanted them._

"_Millie you okay?" Mia heard her friend Nate ask, his tone worried._

_Mia shrugged, "I don't know."_

"_It's gonna be okay, trust me," Nate reassured as he wrapped an arm around her, and sent glares to the people in the bus who were still laughing at Mia._

_Mia however, just stared ahead and tried to feel apathetic towards the rest of them._

_The clichéd words of 'crushed by a crush' came instantly to her head._

_She swore to herself that she would try to forget the boy named Warren Peace and move on with her life._

_Too bad she wasn't a very lucky person._

**TBC**

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**Chapter Song: Let the Flames Begin by Paramore**


	2. Karma Police

**Chapter 1**

**And for a minute there, I lost myself**

**I lost myself**

"I'm so glad you could be Boomer's replacement for this semester, we could really use your hero experience with the students," Principal Powers said to the person sitting across from her; Warren Peace.

"I'm glad you took me in, after all, I've only been a hero for two years," Warren replied politely.

Principal Powers smiled, "Warren you've done many great things these past two years, and the students here definitely look up to you. You'll be a great influence to them, I'm sure."

"Thank you Principal Powers."

"Warren I'm your colleague now, please call me Rebecca."

Warren nodded and stood up to leave her immaculately white office, ready for his first class of the day.

He was Coach Boomer's replacement; Boomer wanted to take the semester off to take care of his newborn son and Warren wanted to take a break from field work. Here he was in his old school, feeling old despite the fact that he only graduated two years ago.

Warren bumped into Medulla as he was heading towards the gym and Medulla grinned at him.

"It's nice to have you back Mr. Peace," he commented and Warren nodded curtly. "Excited for your first class?"

"I get to teach freshmen to handle their powers, who wouldn't be excited for that?" Warren said in an indifferent tone.

"Good point," Medulla replied and chuckled. "But your class after that will be a bit more interesting, the seniors this year are nothing but unruly."

"Can't wait," Warren responded with a hint of sarcasm as he entered the gym, twenty or so freshmen looking back at him, amazed expressions on their faces.

_Hmm_, he thought_, this should be fun_.

He was in a classroom for second period; it was Power Development class for the seniors and as he saw the students piling in, Warren couldn't help but feel nervous. He actually knew some of these students because they were sophomores when he graduated, and they looked back at him curiously but welcoming. He gave them a slight smile in response.

"Hello everyone, my name is Warren Peace, you can call me Mr. Peace or Sir if you wish, but I only ask that you do not call me 'Coach'. I think you all know why," Warren said to his class and most of them chuckled at his comment.

"I'm here to take Coach Boomer's job for this semester while he's on leave. I'm also a registered superhero called Flare, but I'm taking a break from field work so I can teach here," Warren continued, and was glad that he had everyone's attention. "So now, I'm just going to call out your names, and tell me what your powers are so I'll be more familiarized with what I'm going to deal with for the next few months. You'll be spending most of the year developing and mastering your powers so you'll all be ready when the time comes for you to be official superheroes."

The questions started at once.

"Did you really defeat 20 villains and sent them to prison?"

"Do you have a fan club?"

"Is it scary?"

"Who made your costume?"

Warren merely chuckled at the students' interest, "Okay all of you, we'll have time for questions and answers later, let me just get through the roll call first."

"Jennifer Alley?"

"Here, and I'm a telekinetic." Warren nodded and wrote on his clipboard.

"Sean Antoine?"

"Here," a blond boy to his front said. "I'm an empath."

"Lucy Bernstein?"

"Here, I levitate objects," a petite girl raised her hand as a big thud echoed from the hall outside. Everyone paused to listen.

"Hurry up Nate! We're already 5 minutes late!" a girl's voice said quite loudly, as if calling out to a person down the hall.

"It's your fault for spilling chocolate milk on my shirt!" the boy with her retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry I tripped, I'll buy you a new shirt, now come on."

"Better be a nice shirt, this was a present from Alice… Hey Millie! Wait! You dropped your phone!"

"Here, just toss it to me."

A girl carrying her books came through the front of the door, and everyone watched as a phone was sent flying at her and she caught it with one hand, making her books spill to the ground.

Sean stood up and helped the girl with her books and she said her thanks. The girl's friend finally entered the room, panting.

"I'm so sorry sir," the girl looked at Warren. "Nathan here had a little accident."

The boy named Nathan rolled his eyes at the girl and both sat on the two empty chairs in the middle.

"That's alright, I just started the roll call," Warren said to the two, and he continued down his list.

The girl who just came in raised her hand.

"Yes?" Warren asked.

"I'm sorry sir, what's your name?" she asked curiously.

A girl named Alice who was sitting next to her giggled, "Trust Lia to ask the man his name when it's clearly written on the plaque on his desk."

"Well, soo-rry, I can't really see anything right now, I forgot my contacts at home," she replied, and grinned at Alice who shook her head laughingly.

"My name's Warren Peace Ms…?" Warren said as he looked over at her. She looked oddly familiar and the boy with her…Nathan! Zack's little brother!

He noticed the girl pale at the mention of his name, and Warren's thoughts were confirmed at once.

"Landall, sir," she finished; her voice lost the energy from before and became monotone.

"Amelia Landall," Warren noted as he checked her name off the list. "And your power?"

"Force field creation," she replied.

Warren wrote it down and continued the roll call. As he introduced the Power Development class to the group he couldn't help but feel uneasy, mainly because a glare was plastered on to one of his students' face. When the bell rang for lunch and the students piled out, Warren looked up from his notes on his desk and saw Lia picking up her books from the floor. Nate was waiting for his best friend at the door, and felt uncomfortable because of the two people currently in the room.

Warren spoke up first, "Hello Mia, long time no see…how have you been?" he said as nicely as he could.

Lia looked at him, her face impassive, "Oh I've been fine thanks."

"That's…great," Warren said uncertainly.

Lia walked up to Warren's desk, nearing the doorway and spoke in a hard tone, "Mr. Peace?"

"Yes?" Warren asked, feeling more anxious by the second.

"You're a teacher now," Lia continued, sounding polite. "You don't have to act nice to your students, so don't make this too hard on yourself. You and I both know that you hate my guts, and well, we can just try to deal with that as student and teacher shall we? Have a nice day."

She walked out the door, with her best friend next to her talking in hushed tones.

Back in the classroom Warren was still taken by surprise, Mia had changed; she wasn't the whiny and weird girl he knew back then. He immediately felt guilty for what he did to her two years ago; he broke her down when she was already feeling low because of her family problems then. And now… he was her teacher, and he would have to endure her contempt for him every day.

_Damn,_ he thought, _this guilt thing is worst than fighting off 20 villains._ _Karma's a bitch._

**TBC**

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**A/N: Well there you have it. The first ever chapter :) thanks a lot to my amigo OffToLalaLand for proofreading what I've been writing so far.**

**P.S: My OC's real name is Amelia, but I'll be writing her as 'Lia' whenever she's in a scene, whenever a Warren talks to a 'Mia', it's the same person, plus her name will also be 'Mia' in flashbacks. So just in case it's confusing... :)**

**Please Read and Review :) Thanks**

**Chapter Song: Karma Police by Radiohead**


	3. La la lie

**Chapter 2**

**So this is the first verse**

**It's not very long**

**But I'm ready to move on**

"Wow, I never thought we'd have Warren Peace as our replacement teacher," Nate said as he ate his hero burger, and Lia sat across from him, eating her fries silently.

Alice spoke up, "Oh I know! He looks so different I didn't recognize him until he told us his name. His hair is short! And he looks really good."

Nate widened his eyes at Alice, as if sending her a silent signal, she was about to say more but immediately remembered and shut her mouth quickly. The other people around the table; Sean, Pete, Lucy, and Riley all glanced subtly at their friend Lia, remembering what happened in their sophomore year.

Lia rolled her eyes at them, and ended up chuckling at their reactions, "Guys, it's totally fine. You're acting like I'm about to fight the man or something."

"But aren't you still mad at him?" Lucy asked and Lia bit her lip, contemplating.

"It's been two years…I'm just… not the person who can hold grudges," she replied shaking her head a little. "But it's just weird being around him after all this time."

"Well that's stating the obvious since you've been trying to avoid the man for too long," Nate grinned.

"Just trying to repress the memories Nate," Lia said as she waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't want to go into that whole drama again."

"Ahh…no forgive and forget?" Sean smiled at her jokingly.

Lia grinned in reply, "In my case I haven't forgotten, I just…held the wonderful moments in the back of my head, waiting to be unleashed at any moment's notice," she finished sarcastically.

Pete piped in, "What about the 'forgiveness' part?"

"Oh I've forgiven him alright," Lia answered. "Considering I started the whole mess, he wasn't really at fault."

Alice shook her head at Lia, "You're way too nice Lia, sure you may have started the whole stalking thing and annoyed the crap out of him, but he didn't have to put you down the way he did."

"Yeah," Sean added. "I wasn't there when that whole scene happened, but you were the target for most of the gossip and jokes in this school for a while. Weren't you at least mad at him?"

"Of course I was mad at him, but I guess I was more…mad at myself for what I did." Her tone was different all of a sudden, and everyone took this as a cue to drop the subject of the past.

Nate cleared his throat, "So I guess you'll stop the glares that you've been giving the guy in class."

"I was not glaring at him!" Lia said defensively.

"Was to."

"Was not!"

"Was to! Alice you saw her right?" Nate turned to Alice, who held her hands up, not wanting to get involved.

"I'm not getting in between your spats again, the last time I did I ended up with ketchup and mustard on my face," she said as she narrowed her eyes at the two.

Lia tried to resolve the fight quickly, "Okay, whether or not I was glaring at him, I'm sure I'm not going to do that for the rest of the year."

"Whatever you say Ms. Princess-oh-so-nice," Riley laughed beside her and Lia punched him in reply, and he retorted by throwing a fry at her face.

Before a food fight ensued, the bell rang to signal that lunch was over, and the group of friends headed off to their next class with Medulla.

Warren had 3rd period with the sophomores, and it was another Power Development class filled with overeager students asking him about his hero life. Answering their questions was tiring but he had to admit he was enjoying himself and so far the teaching gig wasn't too bad.

When the day ended, he packed up all of his things and walked out of the school. He headed towards the parking lot where his car was and accidentally bumped into a student on the way down the stairs.

"Oh oops, sorry Mr. Peace," the girl said shyly, it was Alice Walker.

"It's okay Alice, are you headed home?" Warren asked politely.

"Yeah, and then I have to go to work after," she replied with a smile.

Warren nodded, "Have fun then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, see ya," Alice waved at him.

"Alice! Come on, we have to go to the mall before work. I still have to get Nate that replacement shirt and I thought maybe you could pick it out? I also told him I'd give him free ice-" Lia stopped her rambling when she saw Warren look back at her a few feet away.

She looked away from him and said to her friend, "Let's go, the bus is here."

Alice smiled to herself and the two headed off towards the yellow bus. Warren saw them and felt that clenching feeling in his gut again. He had to talk to her, get the guilt out of his system somehow.

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"So you're telling me, that Amelia's one of your students?" Will asked his best friend Warren, chortling as he did so.

"It's not funny Stronghold, I feel weird around her," Warren said shaking his head. "It's as if she's got some shame inducing force field around me."

Layla patted his shoulder reassuringly as she walked by him to get some tea. They were in their 'clubhouse', a loft in the heart of downtown Maxville where the group of friends just relaxed in when they weren't on their missions and day jobs. Today, everyone was there except for Ethan, who was on a trip with his girlfriend Gabriela in New York.

"I'm sure if you just talk to her," Layla said sympathetically. "Maybe you won't feel so bad about what happened. Trust me, she's probably not even that mad at you, she doesn't seem like the person who would hold that kind of thing against someone for too long, especially to someone she's known practically her whole life."

Warren ran a hand through his now shorter hair and sighed, "I hope you're right."

"So are you going to talk to her today?" Magenta asked from her position on the couch, filing her nails.

"Yeah, like I know where she is," Warren scoffed.

"You could always try her house," Layla offered and Zack immediately laughed out loud from behind his laptop so everyone turned to him.

"Haha, that's too funny, you'll seem like the stalker now," he said and when four faces glowered back at him, he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm just kidding."

Warren shook his head, "I don't know."

Zack grinned, "She's at work on most Mondays, my little brother always hangs out there. It's that ice-cream shop her mom owns, but ever since Mrs. Landall got caught up with more research work, she left the management to one of her employees and Lia."

Everyone turned to look at Warren and he sighed in return.

Warren got into his car and Zack followed suit, being the nice friend that he was, he agreed to join Warren in his peace talk with Lia.

"Tell me something Zack," Warren started as he maneuvered the streets of Maxville. "How come everyone calls her Lia now?"

Zack thought about it for a second, "Well I guess it started in my senior year when Lia was a junior and she told everyone to just call her Lia instead of her full name, it eventually caught on."

"Why not Mia?" Warren asked curiously.

Zack let out a breath, "_You_ called her Mia… and still do."

Warren felt his stomach clench once again and closed his eyes tiredly as he pulled into the small parking lot of the local ice-cream store: 'You Scream Ice Cream'.

"Here we go…" Zack muttered as the two walked to the door.

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Lia took off her apron and untied her hair, letting the loose waves fall down her back. It was break time. She opened the 'employees only' door to see the customers all sitting down on the counter stools and booths eating their ice cream happily. She also spotted Nate by the counters staring subtly at Alice while she scooped some ice cream for a little girl, and she headed towards him.

As she walked she saw the same little girl Alice was serving drop her ice cream cone on the floor and Lia immediately saw the sadness on the girl's face; a look she very well knew from working there a long time.

The guy with the little girl patted her shoulder and said he would get her another one; he was around Lia's age, with medium length brown hair and a friendly face, who she assumed to be the little girl's brother.

Lia walked over to the two, "Hi, I'm sorry you dropped your ice cream, here, let's get you a bigger one that sticks to the cone real well shall we?" she said to the little girl, who smiled widely at her as she took her hand to go to the ice cream windows.

Alice grinned and scooped up more ice cream, as she was scooping, the little girl turned to Lia.

"What's your name?" she asked and Lia smiled.

"Amelia, and yours?"

"My name is Amy, it's short for Amyline."

Lia grinned, "That's a pretty name, you know my parents call me Amy too, but most of my friends call me Lia."

"Lia sounds pretty like you," Amy said and Lia chuckled and said her thanks.

Alice gave the ice cream to Amy, who said her thanks shyly.

The guy with the little girl smiled at Lia, and took out his wallet.

"No no," Lia said with a smile. "It's on the house."

"Thanks," he grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Ian."

Lia shook his hand, "Lia…which you probably heard already."

"Yeah," Ian nodded. "So you work here huh?"

"Yup," Lia replied. "My parent's business, I was forced to work here against my will at first, and then I just got used to it."

"That's cool, and it's a really nice place by the way," he smiled.

Lia turned to Amy, who was watching the two with interest, "So is Amy your little sister?"

Ian shook his head, "No, but I wish she was," he ruffled Amy's hair light-heartedly. "She's my mom's best friend's daughter, I'm babysitting her today."

Lia nodded, and Ian smiled at her.

"Well, we won't keep you from your break time, we have to be going anyways," Ian said as he and Amy stood up. "It was really nice meeting you Lia."

"Thank you Lia," Amy said.

"My pleasure," Lia replied to the both. "I'll see you guys around."

The two waved back as they headed towards the door. Lia walked towards Nate, who was reading a comic book.

"Made a new friend?" he stated simply.

"Yeah, he was really nice…and cute."

Nate scoffed, "You're such a girl."

"That's because I am, stupid," said Lia, playfully shoving his head to the side.

Lia turned to see Ian and Amy walk out the door, and her mouth dropped open when she saw who walked in after the two walked out.

"Nate, your brother's here," Lia announced in a monotone as she watched Warren Peace and Zack walk towards them.

"Ohh…" Nate trailed off when he saw the two. "Yo Zack, what are you doing here?"

Zack grinned, "Just here to get some ice cream like you."

Zack turned to Lia and she gave him a hug, "The 'Zack Sundae' for the Zack Meister?"

"You know it Mills," Zack grinned back.

Lia turned to Warren, "And for you ?"

Warren stared at her intently, "Can we talk please?"

Lia was caught off-guard, but she still nodded and walked towards one of the empty booths near the back of the shop.

"So it's been two years," Warren started conversationally as he sat opposite Lia.

"Yes, it has been Mr. Peace," Lia replied casually.

"Why so formal? You're making me feel really old."

Lia smiled slightly, "Well, it's not like I can go around calling you Warren…you're my teacher."

"We're not at school right now," Warren pointed out and she shrugged nonchalantly.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she sighed and Warren ran a hand through his hair.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he said slowly and Lia opened her mouth, then shut it.

She ended up nodding, and Warren looked at her as he continued.

"I feel really bad about what happened and I don't want the past to get in between us," he said seriously. "Do you know how hard it is to teach when one of your students is giving you death glares?"

He added the last part jokingly and Lia's smile grew, "Yeah…I'm sorry about that, old habits die hard."

Warren replied with a grin and Lia kept going.

"You know you didn't really have to say sorry, it's been years since _it_happened so I really want to put that behind us. I promise I'll try not to glare at you anymore." Lia promised and Warren looked content.

"Thanks Mia," he said quietly and saw Lia close her eyes for a moment when he said her old nickname. He would start to call her 'Lia' when she told him to, but now he'll stick with the old name.

Lia looked back at him, "You know it's a lot stranger than it looks."

"What is?"

"You being my teacher," Lia waved her hand nonchalantly. "Come on, I used to follow you around like some creepoid...your premiere stalker."

Warren watched her closely, "Yeah, it's a little strange… Why did you stalk me back then anyways? I never understood that."

Lia shook her head, "I honestly don't even know why I did it, I mean, I don't even know why I liked you in the first place."

"Oh thanks," Warren commented sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that," Lia said quickly. "I mean…well I don't know what I mean but, it's just that…I wasted a good whole year wishing you'd like me back, it was pathetic of me."

Warren surveyed Lia with interest, she had changed; she had lived and learnt.

"Well, as you said, what's past is past, no use worrying about it now."

Lia nodded and smiled, "Yeah, and now I can get used to you being my teacher, and it won't be weird because I don't have a big whopping crush on you anymore."

Warren smiled lightly, "That's good then, and I better get going, I have to start marking schoolwork now."

The both of them stood up, "Well, have fun with that, I better get back to work."

And Lia walked away, towards the back room and back out to the counter with her apron on and her hair up. Warren and Zack said goodbye to Alice and Nate and went out the door.

Lia let out a deep breath in front of her friends.

"So you guys okay now?" Nate asked interestedly.

"I think so…"

Alice chuckled from beside Nate on a stool, "You little liar…you never told him your reasons why you were weird and stalked him back then."

Lia shrugged, forgetting to be mad at Alice for eavesdropping, her powers was that she had enhanced senses; super hearing, smell, sight, and taste…great for spy work.

"I didn't want to go into the whole depressing detail of my life Alice," Lia said quietly. "At least we're okay with each other now."

"Yeah, Warren Peace is so much different, and by that I didn't mean he's hotter-which he totally is," Alice giggled. "He's…friendlier."

Nate laughed, "He has to be for a teacher, especially for his seniors."

Lia smiled along with her friends, but even if she was okay with Warren now, she was still scared about facing him tomorrow. She swore to herself that she _wouldn't_ glare at the man tomorrow.

After all, she had forgotten the past right?

**TBC**

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! Now all you have to do is hit the review button and tell me what you think so far :) Thanks to :**Truthfully-Me **and**Mandya1313 **for reviewing :)**

**Chapter Song: La La Lie by Jack's Mannequin**


	4. Stop and Stare

**Chapter 3**

**They're trying to come back, all my senses push**

**Un-tie the weight bags, I never thought I could**

…**Something pulls my focus out**

**And I'm standing down**

The beginning of the school day had a calming impact to Warren; the students were much too tired to make any heart-pounding noise, the teachers were just sipping their morning coffees with bags under their eyes, and the whole school seemed so…serene. The only thing about it was that all the coffee consumption by the students and staff would soon take effect and the peaceful environment would be gone like it never happened.

Warren's first two classes were with the seniors for a double period Advanced Power Practices, followed by lunch, then another practice class with the seniors, and Save the Citizen for last. He walked into the side door of the gym that led to the main controls up at the balcony. He had planned a workout for his seniors that day, with the first hour being physical training and the next in mission tactics and practice using the event simulator in the gym that set up different kinds of obstacle courses for the heroes in training.

As he was putting in the codes for an obstacle course, he heard hushed voices from down at the bleachers. Warren looked over the balcony railing and spotted the blonde haired Alice and the brown haired Lia with their bags thrown casually on the seats, and their faces held the look of what could only be described as surprise.

Warren didn't want to eavesdrop so he went back to work, punching in the codes for the controls but something inside him made him overly curious and strain his ears to hear what the two girls were talking about.

"I just can't believe you said yes," Alice breathed out and Lia just giggled.

"Well, Sean was nice enough to ask, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings."

"God, Lia, whatever happened to those saying 'no' therapies we've had? You told me perfectly well you wanted to go alone to the Valentines dance and now here you are saying you'd go with some guy?" said Alice lightheartedly, as if the two were sharing a joke.

"I'm just trying to be nice Alice," Lia replied and Warren couldn't help but peek over the railing. He noticed that she was trying to hold back her laughter for some odd reason.

Warren stared at Lia and her friend as the two ended up giggling hysterically. He immediately assumed it was because Lia was asked out to the dance by a boy and the two were happy, but he later found out it was a whole different matter.

Finally, the two stopped laughing and Alice choked out, "It was such a coincidence, and the timing was perfect! You certainly showed _him._"

Lia scoffed, "And how do you know that he saw? He was probably over by his fans or something."

Alice giggled, "Oh please, you know you have some sort of magnet towards some guys, including him."

This made Lia giggle harder, "Alice you fool, that's completely ridiculous."

Alice laughed some more then spoke normally, "So what are you going to say to him? He's here for the whole day I heard to look for potential recruits to their team."

"Who knows? Maybe I won't even see him." Lia shrugged.

Alice rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fat chance."

Warren looked towards the gym doors and saw his class piling in. Leading the pack was Nate, who immediately rushed over to the two girls and said in a loud voice:

"Guys, he's coming!"

Those three words sent the three running towards the change rooms opposite the gym entrance, where a crowd of people were around a tall figure wearing dark jeans and a white collared shirt.

Warren recognized him at once; it was Matthew Gilgan, also known as the Gravitator, who can control gravity to a certain extent. He had worked with him on a few occasions this past year. Matt worked with a superhero team called the "Max Force" and he only graduated from Sky High a year ago.

Warren figured it was time to go down the stairs and meet their guest speaker. Principal Powers had invited Matt over to speak to the students- the seniors especially- and tell them about life after graduation and the transition that they have to go through soon enough.

He shook hands with Matt and he ended up asking Warren if he could stay and observe the senior class; apparently, what Warren heard from Alice was right and he was looking for potential recruits from the senior class.

Warren went to fetch his clipboard and set up the floor with cushioned mats for the physical tests. His students were coming back out in their gym uniforms, and he spotted Matt over by some of the students at the bleachers.

He was surprised to hear him ask, "Where's Lia?"

Warren didn't hear the response from the students; he ended up putting two and two together and figured that Lia was trying to avoid Matt. But for what reason?

Something was definitely wrong with himself, Warren thought, he was going into his student's businesses without second thoughts and it surprised him. Why did he care if Lia used to go out with Matt, and why did he care how she acted now?

Finally, Lia was dragged out of the changing room by Alice and somehow Matt noticed and walked over to her.

"Lia!" he called and walked up to her, giving her a big hug. "It's so good to see you."

She smiled weakly, "It's nice to see you too Matt, how have you been?"

"Oh you know, just the regular hero business keeping me occupied, nothing too horrible."

As Warren assembled his class, he heard the two talking and noticed the change in Lia's face as she spoke to Matt. Usually she was the happy person willing to talk to anyone without hesitation but there she was, trying to force a smile on her face. No matter how hard he tried to ignore his student's affairs, Warren couldn't help but stop and just examine the life of one of them.

It saddened him to realize that he knew nothing about his ex-best friend and ex-stalker. He figured that they just grew apart, but now that she was in his daily life once again, he couldn't help but feel curious. He shook the thoughts out of his head and started the class.

"Now will you all please pair yourselves up and we'll do some physical defense and attacks as warm-ups," he watched as his students paired up and stood on the mats, all in their fighting stance.

Matt sat by the bleachers and watched the crowd with amusement, holding a phone in his hands and recording something into it.

Lia and Nate were partnered up as Alice went to join another guy at the far side of the room. The two were doing their basic martial arts fighting and having a serious conversation at the same time.

"So you're going to the dance with Sean?" Nate asked as he aimed a kick at Lia, which she dodged with ease and retaliated by flipping Nate over on his back.

"Yes I am," Lia replied as she looked down at him.

Nate jumped up, "What happened to going stagette?"

Lia shrugged and the two threw in some punches and kicks after another. After a few minutes of warm up, both Nate and Lia were on their backs lying on the mat.

"I will never understand how your weird brain works," Nate said as he got up and offered Lia a hand.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You do know that Sean is in love with Diane right?" he laughed and Lia giggled, she knew perfectly well that that was the case but apparently, another guy had asked out Diane before Sean did so he opted to ask Lia instead.

"Yup, and I'm helping the two get together by the end of that dance," she said brightly.

Nate snorted, "Oh right, you're the greatest matchmaker of all time, I completely forgot," he responded sarcastically.

"Right," Lia smiled. "And after Sean and Diane it's on to my two best friends, preferably with each other."

It took Nate a few seconds to decipher Lia's words and he punched her in the arm as a reply. Lia just laughed harder and sat down at the bleachers with him.

After the warm ups, the seniors proceeded on to the mission simulation, in which they had to go through the obstacle course that had been set up. It was different from Save the Citizen, since in addition to saving the citizen, they had to stop many things from happening such as disabling bombs and avoiding toxic waste explosions.

The class was filled with energy as one after the other went through the maze and tried to succeed their missions. Lia noticed Matt still observing and recording her class' progress on his phone. She had a feeling that he would extend an offer to her to join his team sometime soon, and frankly, she _could _wait.

Her fallout with Matt Gilgan happened just before he graduated, right about the time when he was offered to join Max Force. They were together for about a year, but Matt began to change as he began his hero career. His growing ego got in the way and next thing she knew, their relationship ended, though the two promised to stay friends all the while. That last part though, well…it didn't work out too well.

Lia had been avoiding him and his arrogant attitude for a while, and his visit made it all the more harder for her to handle. Gravitator had lots of fans, and he thrived off of the praises given to him, just like any conceited man would. Lia accepted Sean's offer to go the dance with him so that she would be distracted from the commotion that always seemed to follow her ex-boyfriend around. It was somewhat unrelated, but nevertheless, Lia felt Matt look over when Sean asked her and his face changed when she said yes to Sean. She felt smug all of a sudden right then and felt bad about it so she tried to hide from him.

The best thing to do about it, Lia realized, is that she should accept Matt for who he is and tolerate their being friends. She wouldn't have to avoid him anymore, and they could both move on with their lives.

"Lia!"

There he was, looking all tall and heroic as he made his way over to Lia, who of course, smiled as she figured she would try to get over her annoyance with him.

"Hey Matt, what did you think?"

He smiled in reply, "You guys were all great, I swear, if I could, I would ask all of you to join the team."

"I think most of us will be fine working on our own teams," Lia laughed.

"That's true," Matt nodded. "Is that what you'll be doing?"

"Yeah, I mean, my hero support wants to go off to college and become a doctor so I have to work alone or with another team after I graduate," Lia said conversationally, seeing Nate walk over to the two. "In fact, I think I'll just end up working with Nate and his hero support."

"Well, that's great. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me," Matt smiled and after that his phone rang and it sounded as if he was needed for a mission because he said his goodbyes to the class and to Warren, who was overlooking a mission tactic with one of the students. He turned to Lia and kissed her cheek before leaving the gym.

Lia let out a huge breather, "Well…that wasn't so bad."

"Good for you," Nate patted her head and she swatted him away jokingly. "Let's go to lunch now, I think Mr. Peace is done with his lecture. I'm beat already."

Lia gathered up all her things, "That's because you lack physical endurance Mr. Noodle Arms."

"My arms are not noodles!" Nate protested as the two walked towards the doors, bickering along the way.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

"_What do you want to be when you grow up?" Mia asked._

_Warren laughed heartily, "What kind of a question is that Mia? You and I both want to be superheroes remember?"_

"_Yeah I know," Mia replied. "I meant what kind of a superhero? Did you want to be the overly famous one who saves the public every day like the Commander and Jetstream, or the one who does it secretly, or working behind the scenes, or something else?"_

_Warren shrugged, "That I don't know, but as long as we save others, it won't matter right?"_

"_I guess so."_

_Warren noticed his friend's face right then and knew immediately that something was wrong. The sun behind them was slowly setting and the two were sitting at the beach, which was just a few miles from their houses._

"_Mia, what's up?" he urged and Mia let out a deep sigh as she lied down on the sand._

"_What am I supposed to do when you go off to high school? And not just a regular high school too, its Sky High. That's a big change," she said sadly._

"_Well," Warren responded as a matter-of-factly. "It's only 2 years until you can go to that school, it won't be as bad. Plus, I'm still your neighbour and best friend remember?"_

_He looked over at her, but she still looked sad. Warren smiled and poked Mia's cheek, and then tickled her._

"_Warren! That's not fair, oh you're gonna get it!" she warned threateningly as he ran away from her towards the boardwalk._

_The two ended up watching the sunset from the bench on the boardwalk, just talking about what they had done that summer and what they should do for after._

"_Hey Warren, do you promise not to ignore me once I get into Sky High? I've heard that people who knew each other before going to high school end up not being friends anymore, and plus, there's the whole age thing cause you're older than me," Mia told him and he shook his head._

"_Of course I won't do that, I promise," and as an added effect, Warren held out his pinky to her, which she laughingly twisted with her own._

_The two hugged each other before they decided to go back home, ready for the new school year the next day._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

Warren walked towards the gym from the staff lounge during lunch when he heard someone whistling in the hallway. He turned a corner and saw Lia grabbing some books from the top of her locker, and watched as a book slid off of the one she pulled out and hit her on the head.

"Ow, shit!" she exclaimed as she rubbed her head.

"Ehem," Warren coughed as he walked over to her and raised an eyebrow as he saw Lia agape at him and stuttered out.

"Umm…I didn't say the 'S' word, I said…umm… sh-aaala, sh-oe?"

Warren smirked, "Of course you did."

"Sir, don't you have better things to do than scold girls with potty mouths?" Lia asked as she picked up her books.

"Well, I was on my way to the gym when I heard your dulcet tones," he pointed out and Lia let out a small smile.

"Umm…I have to go eat…lunch," Lia stammered out as she walked backwards away from Warren. "See you later."

"Hey Mia," Warren called. "Are you going to the dance tomorrow?"

Lia stopped short and turned to him, "Yeah I am, are you?"

He nodded yes, "I have to supervise."

"Wow, that sounds fun," Lia giggled.

"I'm sure you're right," Warren grinned. "Anyways, go eat. I'll see you later."

Lia waved at him and walked away. Warren on the other hand made his way over to the gym and started work, thinking about a certain brunette as he did so.

_Focus Warren, _he thought as he let his students have a free work period after lunch, _you're here to teach, not to be interested in the lives of your students._

But somehow he still felt compelled to be closer to Lia, he missed out on a lot in her life and he was feeling shame for it. He was ashamed of causing the rift between the two, and more from not trying to redeem himself in her eyes. Lia was Warren's longest friend; they've been friends since he was two and Mia was born, because their mothers were the best of friends and even worked together at the hero hospital.

She wasn't just his student; she's the person who he wanted to be friends with again. And he will try to be friends with her, no matter what it takes.

"Mr. Peace? Sir?... War!" a voice shook him out of his daze, and he saw Lia looking at him, waving her hand in front of him.

"Sorry, what?" he said, feeling something stir inside him. Lia called him 'War', an old nickname which the two shared a long time ago, in reference to the book that so much resembled his full name.

"We wanted to know whether we're done with the gym equipment, we have Save the Citizen next period remember?" she said.

Warren stood up and turned to his class, "Yes, of course, I'll set it up now."

As he went to the control room to turn on the Save the Citizen setting, Warren's phone rang with Will on the other line.

"What is it Stronghold?" he asked, his tone a little worried.

Will spoke in the same worried tone, "You're right, Dr. Grey managed to escape prison in less than a week."

Warren sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds, "Any signs of him and his followers?"

"Not yet," Will replied. "Doctor Landall wants a word with you tonight about it actually."

"Alright, tell him I'll see him later then."

"Right, bye."

"Thanks Will."

Warren turned on the controls for Save the Citizen as he saw the students pile in the gym for the game. He tried to shake his thoughts away from Will's news and focus on Save the Citizen.

The freshmen started the game off, leading to many kids ending up in the nurse's office for minor fractures of limbs and such. Warren got a kick out of seeing students make stupid mistakes such as hitting their own partners with their own powers and worse, hitting their selves. As he sat on the high chair where Coach Boomer used to sit, he glanced at the students sitting around him. The upper classmen looked bored out of their wits in seeing the lower classmen play Save the Citizen; he even saw Lia and her friends playing cards out of boredom. Warren sighed and when the current game ended, he blew on his whistle.

"Okay everyone, I'm handing the floor over to our seniors, any volunteers?"

Nate threw down his cards and volunteered to be the villain right away, and his friends stopped their card playing and cheered him on. He pulled Lia along to be his partner, and their opponents were two guys in their senior year as well, one was a hero who could send out shock waves and another was also a hero who could shoot laser beams from his fingertips.

Warren wrote all of their names on his clipboard and checked it off for participation, "You have two minutes to save your citizen, go!"

Nate and Lia charged their opponents; the lights in the gym flickered on and off as Nate used his electricity against Devon, the guy with the laser beams. Lia produced her force fields to fend off the shockwave attacks from her opponent, Kevin, and the two ended up in physical combat just a few steps away from where the citizen was about to be shredded in just a few seconds.

Nate finally electrocuted Devon, who was down on the floor, and ran towards where Lia and Kevin were throwing hits at one another. He was hit by a shockwave sent by Kevin, and smacked the durable glass with a big thump. With 20 seconds to spare, Kevin sent a powerful shockwave towards the remaining villain and it finally hit Lia, sending her against a lamppost. Lia groaned but didn't get up, her back bruised by the force of the shockwave. She just watched as Kevin moved towards rescuing the dummy but was propelled backwards by an invisible field around the dummy mulcher. She grinned.

The timer sounded and the dummy was shred into pieces, and the crowd cheered madly.

"Villains win!" Warren announced and watched as Kevin grinned down at Lia and picked her up because she still couldn't stand up from his hit.

"You are quite a schemer," Kevin said to Lia as he laid her down gently on the bench and handed her an ice pack.

Lia laughed, "You know I never lost a game with that trick."

Kevin laughed along and helped Zack who limped his way over towards them.

"Nice going Millie, I love that shield of yours."

Since the winners were clearly unfit for another game, Warren chose other seniors to play Save the Citizen, and the bell soon rang to signal the end of the day. He saw Lia about to leave and said to her,

"Nice game Mia," Warren congratulated her and she smiled.

"Thanks Warren."

* * *

"Hey, Dad, you wanna go shopping with me and Mom?" Lia asked her father, who was sitting on the couch watching TV. She was going to the mall with her mother and Alice to find dresses for the Valentine dance on Friday night.

"No it's okay, you two go on ahead, I don't think dress shopping is my forte," he chuckled.

Lia was about to leave with her mother when the doorbell rang. When she opened the door she caught sight of none other than Warren Peace himself.

"Oh, hi," she stammered and her father walked towards them to welcome Warren in.

"Hi Mia, Doctor Liza," Warren greeted and Lia's mom gave him a motherly hug.

Dr. Landall led Warren to the dining room table where he produced a box of filing folders, and the two girls said their goodbyes to them and headed off to the mall.

Lia and her mom picked up Alice from her house and then went off towards the mall, where they searched for dresses in about 10 stores. Alice found hers first; a blue sequined halter dress that went down to her knees and which she matched with some silver stilettos. Lia had a harder time finding hers, but her mother eventually found a gold strapless dress with patterned swirls made out of diamond rhinestones on the top half and a shiny golden tulle skirt that also went down to her knees. She found some golden strappy heels as well and they were done.

"Bye Alice!" Lia and her mother called out to Alice as she got off the car and walked over to her front door.

"Bye! Thanks for the ride!" she called as she waved at the two.

"Hey Mom," Lia asked as they drove towards their house. "Why is Warren at our house?"

"Oh, your father is just going over some post-mission details with him," her mother replied.

"Oh."

She went inside the house with her mom, shopping bags in tow and went straight upstairs. Her dad and Warren were still inside the dining room, talking about their business. It was 10 o'clock when Lia went downstairs for a glass of milk and she saw Warren about to leave.

"Hey Amy, how was the shopping? Did you get to find a dress you want?" Doctor Landall asked his daughter.

Lia nodded, "Yeah, I found one."

Warren turned to say goodbye to Lia's parents and Lia's mom opened the door for him.

"Thanks for coming Warren, I'll see you soon," Dr. Landall said, shaking his hand.

"Bye Dr. James, Mrs. L," he turned to Lia. "See ya Mia."

Lia grinned at his words and waved goodbye, "Bye War."

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating in months, I've been so busy lately. But I made this one long to make up for the long wait. :) Hope you liked it!**

**Review please :) I love them**

**Chapter Song: Stop and Stare by One Republic**


	5. Brighter

**Chapter 4**

**So this is how it goes**

**Well I, I would have never known**

**Don't you know that it's not this hard**

**Well it's not his hard**

The school was bright and cheery when Lia got off her bus, and it had a great deal to do with the fact that it was Valentine's Day. A day dreaded by most, and loved by others, Lia smiled as she saw Nate give Alice a red rose. Alice giggled and accepted the rose, and gave Nate a kiss on the cheek. Lia smiled to herself as she walked towards her locker.

"Hey Millie, happy Valentine's Day!" Nate shouted, grinning like a maniac; Alice was by her own locker as she put his rose inside it.

Lia grinned up at her friend, "You seem to be in high-spirits," she commented as he gave her a small Valentine card and a packet of Hershey Kisses.

"There you go, your favourite," Nate replied, still smiling. Lia laughed and hugged him, grinning broadly.

"Thanks Nate, and by the way, good going on the rose for Alice, can't wait for the next gift," She patted his shoulder, winked and walked away, headed to her first class, leaving Nate to spend more time with his beloved Alice.

Lia walked into her Power Development class, giving Warren a polite hello when she saw him sitting at his desk reading a newspaper. He glanced at Lia when she came in and replied to her hello most casually, he was about to say something more when Sean and his two friends Riley and Pete came in the room with little chocolate boxes in their hands.

"Lia!" they shouted as they crushed her in their group hug and handed her some chocolate, which she took gratefully, laughing as she did so.

The three of them sat down on the seats beside hers, "So...exactly how did Sean manage to get you to agree to come to the dance with him?" Riley asked, waggling his eyebrows at Lia.

"We're just going as friends, right Sean?" Lia rolled her eyes at him and Sean nodded lightheartedly.

"Yeah, it should be fun, everyone's so excited for the dance," Sean commented.

"Speaking of which, how do you feel? It must be annoying having everyone's emotions turned into all the lovey dovey stuff today, remember last year?" Lia laughed, remembering how Sean reacted to all the emotions from everyone in the school last year and almost drove him crazy.

Sean cringed for a moment, "Thanks for reminding me, I had to stay in the detention room for the whole day. Anyways, I have my mental blocks on full blast."

At that moment Nate and Alice came in and Lia nudged Sean and the others. There was a glint in her eyes and Sean took her hint and wolfwhistled at the two.

"Hey Sean," Lia whispered to him as their other friends grinned at Nate, urging him to give Alice his next 'gift'. "Turn off your mental blocks for a moment and tell me how Nate is feeling right now."

Sean smirked and his eyes clouded over for a moment, when he opened them he looked at Lia smiling.

"He's nervous about reading his poem to her," he said.

Lia smiled deviously, "Well, do you think you can make him more comfortable?"

Sean raised an eyebrow, and Lia nodded and winked at him.

"Done."

Nate stood up feeling more confident- thanks to Sean- just as everyone in the class walked in, and walked towards the front of Alice's desk, a box of chocolates in his hands and a card. Lia smiled at her friend as he continued. Warren on the other hand, saw Nate's actions and the goofy grins on Lia and her friends' faces; he put his paper down and watched with an amused expression on his face. Sky High never changed, especially during Valentine's Day.

Nate opened his card for Alice and said aloud, "Dear Alice, ehem... Roses are blue- I mean…" he cleared his throat, petrified, glanced at Lia, who urged him to go on with a hand gesture.

"Okay…Roses are red, Violets are blue, I've always adored you, Please say you'll go to the dance with me," he finished and Alice burst out laughing, jumped on Nate and gave him a huge hug.

Lia and the rest of the class whooped and whistled at the two as they ended up kissing in the middle of the classroom.

Warren shook his head lightly and coughed to settle things down, "Okay everyone, I know you're all excited for Valentine's Day but we do have a class today."

It took the class a few seconds, but everyone eventually fell quiet and started their class. Warren noticed Nate, who sat behind Lia give a high-five underneath their desks, huge grins on their faces. Warren just smiled to himself and continued on with his lesson.

Lia sat at her lunch table with her friends, finishing her hero sub and as she watched everyone in the cafeteria do all the sweet and icky stuff people did on Valentine's Day, i.e. suck on each other's faces and such. She suddenly noticed Sean, who sat in front of her, glance at a girl across the room; it was Diane, who was sitting and laughing with her date for the dance. Lia saw Sean look really dejected and one idea popped in her head.

"Sean?" she asked him and he looked over her way. "I have this homework to do and I have to interview empaths, will you help me?"

Sean nodded, "Sure."

The two made their way out of the cafeteria after saying their excuses to their friends, who really didn't care because they were too occupied with their partners.

Lia and Sean headed over to her locker and Lia spoke up as they walked, "Okay, what are you going to do about Diane?"

Sean was surprised, and said uncomfortably, "What do you mean?"

Lia raised an eyebrow at him, "You know, I don't have to be an empath to know how you feel about her."

Sean looked at her once, then bowed his head, "She likes someone else."

"Doesn't mean you don't have a shot," Lia simply said as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You must be mad at me," he replied. "Cause I'm kinda using you as my last resort."

Lia waved her hand away in dismissal and smiled, "Oh that, that's completely fine with me, and I'd love to help you with your…predicament."

"So…" he started. "You'll be my date to make her jealous? But how do I know she even likes me in the first place?"

Lia held her chin, pondering, "Well, I'm pretty sure Diane likes you, first of all because I always see her glow when you're talking to her, and second she told me that you would never like her because she's hero support and can't really do anything other than be a human calculator," she said and smiled at Sean, who also seemed very glad at her words. "So when she sees you taking me to the dance, she'll realize that she really wants to be with you and not the other guy."

Sean gave a huge sigh, "Wow, it's strange how jealousy works. But what if it doesn't work?"

Lia patted his shoulder, "Well, you know, Valentine's Day is not the only day when you can actually make your move on her."

Sean shrugged, then nodded, and when the two reached Lia's locker, he stopped and grinned at her.

"Well, I don't feel bad about taking up most of your Valentine's Day anymore, looks like I have competition," he smirked and pointed at the very thing which caught his attention.

"What-?" Lia glanced at her locker and saw a bouquet of roses by the locker door. She bent down to pick it up and read the card.

"'Happy Valentine's Day, hope you have an amazing one'" she read aloud. "No one signed it."

Sean grinned, "Looks like you have a secret admirer."

Lia smiled and placed the bouquet inside her locker just as the warning bell rang and the two friends made their way over to their next class.

* * *

She got into the bus headed for the school dance in her gold dress and saw her date saving her a seat near the back of the bus. Sean handed Lia a corsage and the two laughed merrily with their friends on their way up to the school. When they got there they were all met with red, pink, and white themed decorations in the gym. Confetti lined the floor and hearts were hanging off the ceiling, and a big heart with an arrow on it at the back of the stage, where there was a live band performing.

Lia and her friends went to the dance floor immediately, and she was happy to see Diane look over to Sean and herself when they passed her.

After a while of dancing, Lia urged her date to go ahead with his plan, seeing as how Diane was sitting all alone at a table with her own date nowhere to be seen. Sean complied, albeit nervously, and went ahead to ask Diane to dance.

"And don't come back until she's your girlfriend!" Lia shouted at him playfully as she saw him walk away after waving nervously at her.

She walked backwards, still watching Sean's progress, and when she turned to walk towards her table she accidentally bumped into another person. She felt something sharp pierce her chest and a piece of cheese falling into the inside of her dress.

"Ow! Oops, sorry," She stumbled on her feet from the force of the push as she looked up at the person she bumped into; Warren looked surprised and sorry for accidentally poking her with a toothpick with cheese on it.

He steadied Lia with his hands and said quickly, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Lia laughed nervously, "Yeah, good thing it was just a toothpick with cheese," she turned slightly away from Warren to grab the cheese that had fallen into the inside of her bra, taking it and throwing it aside. She turned back to look at Warren, who looked as if he was trying not to laugh, and smiled even more uneasily at him.

"Umm…yeah, sorry," Warren said and continued. "Would you care to join me for a walk?"

Lia was surprised, "Uhh…a walk where?"

"Maybe just out to the balcony, get some fresh air," Warren shrugged and Lia nodded slowly.

"Sure, why not."

"So where's your date?" he asked as the two walked towards the balcony, walking past the students who were acting as if the punch bowl had been spiked; they were dancing strangely and laughing by themselves, with some even crying.

"Well," Lia said. "He's actually off trying to be with his true love."

Warren raised his eyebrow at her words and Lia grinned, "Well, it is Valentine's Day, gotta use the lingo for today you know."

Warren grinned slightly and the two stood by the balcony looking down at the city lights due to a cloudless night.

"So…" Warren started. "Where's your boyfriend?"

Lia scrunched her forehead at him, and then shook her head no, "I don't have one."

"Ahh…I see."

"Who did you think was my boyfriend?" she asked him curiously and he promptly looked away.

"No one," he replied and Lia smiled.

"No…I actually haven't had a boyfriend in a while. I mean, with all the schoolwork you teachers are forcing in on us," she grinned and Warren's mouth twitched into a smile ever so slightly.

There was no better time to ask her about Matt, so Warren found himself asking Lia about it, an action that surprised not only him but also his companion.

Lia composed herself after the question was asked and resolved to answer it truthfully. She had already lied to Warren once and she just couldn't bring herself to do it again. So she told him about how she was with Matt for almost a year, but broke it off because of the consequences of his new-found fame. Warren listened with an attentive ear and couldn't help but agree on Lia's decision to dump the guy, since he knew himself how much of a jerk he is; working on missions with the Max Force was always at the top of his most hated things to do.

"You're not planning on joining his team after you graduate do you?" Warren asked and Lia burst out laughing.

"You're kidding right?" she laughed. "I would rather jump off this balcony than do that."

Warren smirked slightly, "Glad to see you like them so much."

"So what about you?" Lia continued on their conversation, looking behind her shoulder to see everyone dancing a slow dance in the gym. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she finished slowly, looking away to avoid his stare.

"No," he replied. "Not since three months ago."

Lia was surprised at Warren's openness to answer such a personal question, sure she had no problem telling him about her personal life, but she had always known Warren to keep things to himself, especially his personal businesses.

She continued, "Do I know her?" she smiled slightly as she finally met his gaze.

He shrugged, "I don't know, her name's Amber Garisson, Firestarter."

"Ahhh…" Lia started, she knew perfectly who she was, another Pyrokinetic who didn't really like socializing with other people. Plus, she 'accidentally' burned Lia when they sparred and she beat the pyro in physical combat. "Yeah, we've met."

And then she added in an undertone, "The little bitch."

"What was that?" Warren asked innocently, pretending he didn't hear her, he was very close to laughing then.

"Nothing," she replied quickly.

And the two dropped the subject, for fear that they might just end the night calling Firestarter names and hating her even more.

A loud and fast song came from inside and everyone in the dance floor was rocking it out concert style while Lia and Warren looked on.

"This is so strange," Lia commented as she looked at the people dancing in the gym, and then back at Warren, who surveyed her with an unrecognizable face. "I mean, we're here talking about…our exes of all things."

Warren leaned on the balcony railing and looked down, after a while he looked back at Lia with sadness in his dark eyes, "I'm sorry Mia."

Lia started and stared at him curiously, where was he going with this?

"What for?" she asked quietly and he shook his head.

"Mia, stop," he said. "You know perfectly well what I'm sorry for."

Lia put up a hand to stop him, "Warren look, you've apologized already, you don't have to do it again."

"No," he went on. "You were talking to me yesterday, and somehow I remembered something from years ago... before I went to Sky High I promised you that we would stay friends. And you weren't even there for more than a year before it ended."

Lia looked down at her feet and said nothing, she did remember him promise that during their trip to the beach-their very last one.

"I'm sorry for breaking that promise," Warren said quietly.

The two were silent for about a minute, each one lost in their own thoughts, and finally Lia spoke up.

"When you asked me a couple of days ago at the ice cream shop about why I annoyed the hell out of you in high school," she said quietly and Warren looked at her attentively. "I didn't give you the whole truth.

"I think you know why for the most part, you're just not saying it," Lia continued and Warren nodded slowly.

"To get away from your parents," he said simply and she nodded in reply.

"I didn't like seeing them fight, and my brother wasn't there to distract me from it so I turned my attention to something else. And stupid me…I had the idea of getting a crush on you so I could focus my thoughts more on you than other things," she shook her head as she remembered all her past misdeeds. "I guess I chose you because I thought…well…you wouldn't mind since we used to be friends. I just didn't realize until afterwards how much I irked you."

Lia's face showed signs of her almost crying, but never before in her life did she remember herself actually crying, so she just looked defeated after her speech.

"Mia…" Warren started but she cut him off.

"Warren I'm tired of this," she said sadly. "I don't want to avoid you like I had done for the past couple of years."

"Me neither," he quietly said, looking forlornly at Lia.

"Is there any way, we could just…move on and be friends again? I know it's hard but…" Lia trailed off, looking away from Warren as she said so.

"I'd like that," Warren said and Lia looked at him in surprise. "I'd like that very much."

And he finally smiled at Lia, who slowly returned the smile, and held her hand out. Warren glanced at it and shook her hand slowly. The two ended up hugging each other warmly, staying that way for a moment or two.

"I missed this," Lia murmured, and Warren couldn't agree more.

The two walked back inside the gym in better spirits than before.

"Well, I have to go and do my chaperoning duties, I'll see you in a bit," Warren said as Lia laughed.

"Wow, you've definitely settled into the whole teacher character very nicely," she commented as he rolled his eyes and gave her a slight wave as he went ahead to stop a group of kids who were holding a suspicious water bottle over the punch bowl.

Glancing over at the dance floor, Lia saw Nate and Alice still dancing together, she smiled and sat down on the table, drinking some of her punch, which tasted like vodka.

"Lia?" a voice asked from behind her and she turned around to see her ex-boyfriend standing over her.

To say Lia was surprised was an understatement, she stood up and reluctantly gave him a friendly hug, and he immediately asked her to dance.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as he slipped his hand on her waist and took the other, dancing a slow dance with her.

"I wanted to see you, and tell you that you look amazing," he grinned and Mia gave him a slight smile. She noticed some of the younger students pointing at him as they whispered and giggled unabashed.

"Thanks," she replied quietly.

"Did you like the roses I sent you?" He asked and Lia nodded her thanks, but really felt disappointed that it had come from him. She sincerely hoped it was from another person, but she shook those thoughts away.

"I'm only here for a little while, I have to go back to headquarters for my next mission soon," Matt said as he smiled down at Lia. "I just wanted to ask you something."

Lia glanced at him curiously, silently dreading his question.

"What is it?" replied Lia with a cautious tone.

Matt stopped their dancing and walked her near the gym windows, where there were less people, "I chose to take some time off after my next mission, and I was wondering if…umm…you'd like to go on a vacation with me for your spring break."

Oh no, Lia thought, screaming in her head at him. What did he think, that she would actually say yes?

Lia looked at him and spoke, "Matt, I can't. You know I can't."

Matt immediately took her hands in his own, "Lia I still love you, and I know that we agreed on being friends, but I just can't seem to find another hero that I get along with as I do with you. I want us to be like we were before."

Lia detached her hands from his and spoke in a calm tone, "I'm sorry Matt, I don't love you anymore. And I'm sorry that you haven't found another person to focus your attention to, but I just don't think we'd turn out well a second time."

They were quiet for a moment, with Matt accepting his fate with Lia slowly. He ended up nodding and looked at Lia with sad eyes.

"You're right, we're better off as friends," he said and Lia gave him a tiny smile.

"Exactly, and maybe one day, when you're doing a mission with another super, maybe you'll end up falling in love, who knows," she added lightheartedly and Matt finally grinned his cocky grin.

"You're right, I do go on a lot of collaborative missions with other great supers," he replied and Lia just smiled, finally accepting his overconfident attitude and getting over it.

The two said their goodbyes and their hopes to see each other soon, "You know, whoever ends up with you Lia is one heck of a lucky man," he said as his parting goodbye, and Lia only shook her head and waved at him.

Some of Lia's school friends saw their exchange and shared a goofy grin with her when she joined them afterwards. Alice asked for details and Lia couldn't be any happier to tell her about it.

Another audience member of Matt and Lia's exchange however, only smiled to himself after hearing of their goodbyes, and went ahead to get more cheese cubes from the food table.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! If there were any mistakes, I'm sorry about them since my beta is off on holiday being a camp counsellor :) And I'm going on vacation next week so my updates will be a little slower then, but I promise not to go offline for more than 3 weeks :D**

**And I've recently changed the rating of this story to a T, since I never bothered changing it from a K when I first created the story. Thanks to **_miserlou _**for bringing it up and **_offtolalaland _**for spoling the story a little bit just to remind me about the rating ;P**

**You know the drill: REVIEW! I hope to get lots of reviews cause I enjoy them too much. And thanks a bunch for all the reviews I've received so far and all the story alerts and faves. People of Fanfiction are the BEST.**

**Chapter Song: Brighter by Paramore**


	6. Ma Ma Mia

**Chapter 5**

**My my, how can I resist you?**

**Mamma mia, does it show again?**

**My my, just how much I've missed you**

He found himself sitting at a long conference table in the Maxville Hero Centre of the International Association of Superheroes. He was on leave from field missions but his presence was required for the gathering that day. The news of one super villain's breakout sent the team he belonged to in full red alert. At once the two main targets were notified of their situations and security information was established. Warren was not surprised; he knew perfectly well that the villain who had escaped was out to get him and Dr. Landall because they were the ones who managed to extract the documents from the doctor's most secret lair. This was the reason why Warren was forced to go in hiding at Sky High, where he would be safe from any attacks from the doctor's minions.

"Doctor Grey's files are currently hidden in the sanctum at our downtown headquarters, admittance is restricted to everyone except for those who are currently in this room," Ivy said as she looked around the meeting room, with her boyfriend The Enforcer sitting beside Flare, twisting a pen which was close to breaking at that moment. Dr. Landall was at the other end of the table, files in his hands, right beside his wife and her sister-in-law, Laserbeam.

This was the team the IAS put together for a mission that involved extracting the research files created by Dr. Grey and his team. The villain doctor had experiments on a new technology that would rid supers of their powers. It went beyond the job of a neutralizer, which takes away a super's power when they have the device attached to their bodies or the drug injected to them. The technology that Dr. Grey was planning would permanently dissolve any superpowers, which is why Team Go- the nickname they gave themselves before they started the mission- had to act fast to take away the files and to imprison the evil doctor.

The meeting ended after the review from the IAS concluded that there have been no traces of the villain as of yet, which was why they were cautioning the team to be vigilant. In addition, those with close connections to the team such as their immediate families, were under supervision from the security management of the IAS.

"Warren," Mrs. Landall called out to him as the members of the team piled out of the room, conversing with each other. "Laserbeam and I would like to speak with you."

Warren sat back down with Mrs. Landall and her sister-in-law, and saw a worried glance from Ivy and The Enforcer as they left the room. It seemed as if they knew something he didn't, which was why he turned towards the two women with a questioning stare.

"Remember when Dr. Grey was caught, and we sent you to work at Sky High because his followers were still after you?" Mrs. Landall started and Warren nodded. "We finally were able to get some answers from a certain Ferlo."

Warren scrunched his forehead, "Grey's bodyguard?"

"Yes," Laserbeam answered. "We brought in a super from Washington who can force the truth out of anyone, we finally found out what his power is."

"What is it then?" Warren asked, somewhat scared of the upcoming response.

Mrs. Landall sighed and replied, "He has the ability to know everything about a person's whole life by just a simple touch of their skin. He can see their life history, their skills, their connections, to what they're thinking."

Warren rose from his chair, suddenly remembering their mission almost a month ago. He was running away from Dr. Grey's Laboratory with the computer chip containing his most precious work while Dr. Landall managed to take the unfinished blueprints of his technology. The rest of the team were in battle with the other villains. Before Warren teleported away from the laboratory, he remembered a big figure strangle him before he used his fire to get him off.

"He did touch my skin," he paced back and forth. "So he knows everything about me?"

Laserbeam nodded her head, "So does Grey, which is why the IAS has placed you in their high-security list, as well as your mother."

"Okay," he sighed, knowing he couldn't do anything about it, just like what happened when he was sent to teach at Sky High. The constant guards for the IAS were discreet at following those on the list so he didn't worry about them disrupting his everyday life. "But wait-"

He suddenly remembered that the big Ferlo also grabbed a hold of Dr. Landall before he teleported.

"Dr. Landall as well?" he asked and Mrs. Landall sighed.

"Yes, unfortunately,we're all on the list."

"Have you told Mia?" Mrs. Landall looked at him anxiously and shook her head in response.

She sighed, "We haven't told her nor Andrew, we figured that Andrew can take care of himself in New York and Amy…well, we've asked the IAS to only guard her since the whole business is in Maxville and not where Andrew is."

"Yeah…" Warren muttered, feeling slightly unnerved about their situation.

* * *

"Today we'll be discussing about your own career paths," Warren spoke in front of his class during a sunny March day. Each student shifted slightly in their seats, knowing what was to come next. "Now I know most of you have applied to certain superhero teams, organizations- most likely in the International Association of Superheroes. Each of you will be receiving responses to where you have applied over the next few weeks so I thought it would be best to discuss some of the positions that you have all applied for."

The rest of the class started on about different positions that they could do; some have applied to be in the Justice League for field work, the Max Force for those who wanted to stay in Maxville, and the majority applied to the IAS, in different fields from mission control, to security, to laboratory research, undercover missions and of course, field work.

"Who here will be working with their hero support for sure?" Warren asked his class and about half of them raised their hands. "Okay, so obviously, you'll be the ones doing field work, and as for those who aren't joining with their hero support?" he asked, glancing at Lia who just raised her hand.

"I'd like to do field work as well, and seeing as my hero support wants to go to medical school to become a doctor, is there a possibility that the IAS might assign me another hero support, or will they let me work alone?" she finished, and some of the people beside her in similar situations also awaited the answer.

Warren surveyed his class, "Well, the IAS will first assess your skills once you enter their workforce, and if you don't qualify for independent missions, they will most likely assign a hero support, or possibly another hero to partner with you in their missions."

His response seemed to discourage some of his students so he went on,

"Still, I've been your gym teacher for a while now, and I know better than anyone else that this class is definitely strong and will most likely pass any assessments you may go through, so try not to worry too much about it."

Nate raised his hand, "Mr. Peace, did you ever work with your hero support?"

This caught the attention of the whole class, because though Warren had been with them for over a month, his novelty as a famed superhero never got old.

Warren shook his head, "No, like Ms. Landall here, my hero support went on to college, however he now works as a computer programmer for the IAS, so he's definitely still part of the superhero community."

"So, you've succeeded all of your missions alone?" Alice beamed. "You must be really strong."

Warren was slightly embarrassed by her comment, "I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm very strong Alice, some of the missions I have gone through were successful because I was a part of several teams that the IAS have put together."

The class was about to continue asking him more about his missions when the bell rang and everyone filed out of the class. Lia turned to Warren as she was about to walk out the door.

"You think the IAS is a good choice for me?" she asked, curiosity behind her words.

"Sure, and seeing as how you got early acceptance, they must think you're a good choice for them too," Warren replied casually as he filed test papers in his desk drawers.

Lia grinned at him, "Yeah, and who knows, maybe I'll get to do a mission with you someday."

She waved at him goodbye as she left the room and headed towards the buses to go home, leaving Warren, who looked after her hoping that what she said would eventually come true. Shaking all thoughts of himself not being able to get out of Sky High soon enough and having to stay behind while his students graduate because he wasn't allowed to go out on missions, he headed out for the clubhouse. He had to see if there was any news of Dr. Grey and whether or not he could do something about his current predicament.

But there were no news of the current villain they were trying to apprehend, and Warren couldn't help but feel agitated and powerless because he really couldn't do anything about it. On the other hand, he felt somewhat okay about his current break from fieldwork, especially because teaching the students at Sky High was slightly amusing. After a month in the school, Warren decided that his favourite class was the senior hero and sidekick classes. The two classes were finally mixed together for their final months of school and their classes have gotten harder but at the same time, better.

"Hey Mr. Peace? You know how yesterday you were talking about secret identities?" a guy asked from the front of the class, Warren nodded and he went on. "I was wondering whether anyone has ever noticed that your citizen identity has the same tattoo as your super identity."

Once again the class fell in silence at the mention of Warren's personal and professional business. He rolled his eyes slightly amused at the sight of his hushed class and answered.

"I don't think anyone's ever noticed the similarity between Warren Peace's tattoo and Flare's…" he pondered for a short moment. "And if anyone ever does, I can say that a lot of people have tattoos like mine…I can be what you people call a _poser._"

The class chuckled at his response and asked more questions about his tattoo, wondering if it was a good idea to get some too if they wanted some logo branded on themselves just as he had.

Warren shook his head at the questions saying, "Look, I'm not the right person to be telling you whether to get tattoos or not. Why don't you ask your parents? I had to when I was 15 and decided to get mine."

He gave Lia a pointed look for a brief moment and then looked away as he went on about the subject of secret identities. Oh, how she remembered clearly when he got his tattoos.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

"_Both of your arms? That's going to hurt…bad," Mia said to Warren as the two got off the 101 bus to downtown Maxville and walked towards the tattoo parlour owned by a super._

"_No it won't," Warren replied simply as Mia rolled her eyes._

"_Whatever you say flame boy…"_

_Warren opened the door of the tattoo parlour and was immediately greeted by Mr. Sanders, a retired hero support who was also a tattoo artist._

"_Hello there Warren! You're mom already called me this morning and okayed your tattoos. Are you ready?" he asked cheerfully as he led the two over to the area with a couple of hospital-like chairs where there were two needles and designs on the table. Warren nodded his head as he sat on one of the chairs; Mia sat cross-legged on the chair beside his'._

_Mr. Sanders grinned at the two, "Hey Mia, you want to get a tattoo done today too?"_

_Warren smirked, "She's still in the 8th grade, my mother wouldn't even let me have one till this year."_

"_That's okay Charley, I'm not ready to have a tattoo yet," she grinned. "Plus, I'm not very fond of needles."_

_Mr. Sanders laughed and took the needle he would be using for Warren, the design laid out on the table in front of him._

"_Okay Warren, we have neutralizers that you can wear just in case you happen to combust accidentally, you know, with the pain? What do you say?" he asked._

_Warren just shrugged so Mia answered for him, "Yes officer, put the shackles on him," she said in a serious tone._

_Mr. Sanders laughed even more and reached into one of his drawers and held out a thin black arm band that acted as a neutralizer. He clipped it onto Warren's bare forearm and Mia smirked._

"_Dun dun dun…" she played along and Warren rolled his eyes at her, but felt slightly tense as Mr. Sanders picked up the needle and got started._

_Warren grabbed onto Mia's hand as his other arm was being inked slowly. He held on to her so tightly that she winced with pain along with him. After some grueling minutes, his left arm was done and covered with gauze._

"_Your arm is done now War, you can let go of me," Mia chuckled. "Oh look, Charley's ready to ink your other arm now," she grinned mischievously._

_Warren glared at her and took a huge breath as Charley proceeded on his other arm._

"_You know," Mia started, as she felt her whole arm go numb from his grip once again. "I would fall for your tough guy image if you weren't on the verge of spraining my wrist," she chuckled but Warren still didn't let go of her arm._

_He didn't know if he could._

"_Make sure you don't regret this after a couple of days," Lia muttered under her breath as Warren winced once more._

"_Yeah, like you didn't regret that haircut you had a couple of months ago?" an evil glint appeared in his eyes and Lia was reminded of the haircut she had from a high-end salon in the mall. In a few words, it didn't turn out so well and Lia had been on the receiving end of many criticisms from Warren himself._

"_Oh of course," Lia said through gritted teeth as she gripped his bandaged right arm tight in retaliation._

_Warren's eyes widened and he took a deep breath for the pain._

"_Ma ma mia!" he blurted out painfully and Lia looked at him in indignation, scrunching her face questioningly as if she misheard what he said._

"_Excuse me?" she asked, completely forgetting about his insult less than a minute ago. "Did you just say 'Ma ma mia'?"_

_Warren laughed nervously, "Ha-ha, well, my mom took me to see the broadway show and it got stuck in my head…and plus, it kind of fits, you know…with your name?"_

"_Of course….whatever you say Doctor Doofus."_

_Warren looked at her and pretended not to have heard, glancing at his tattoos nonchalantly._

_Lia couldn't remember giggling more than she did that day._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

Lia spent the remainder of that class with a smile on her face, and her teacher definitely noticed. The bell to signal the end of class came, and the students rushed off to their lunches, awaiting the Save the Citizen game afterwards.

Lia laughed many times a day, laughed at her friends' daily adventures or misadventures, laughed at things she does that makes her embarrassed half the time and laughed when things are too quiet for her liking. But her biggest laugh that day- the one with that came with the snort and hurt her sides- was when she saw a couple of giggling freshmen girls flirting with Warren.

She was walking by when she heard,

"Sooo… _sir_, will you be _picking_ me? For Save the Citizen I mean," the freshman girl batted her eyelashes at him as Warren tried to keep his face impassive, trying not to scowl and heat up with annoyance, as he would have probably done if he was still a student like them.

Lia walked by them and tried to hide her laugh, and the two freshmen must have seen that she was hiding a smile because they sent a scowl her way before she disappeared out of sight. But not before giving Warren a look that clearly said 'You're on your own buddy, good luck this time'.

Seeing him on his high chair in the gym was even better, because he glared when Lia waved at him and smirked, looking to where one of the freshmen from before was, eager to start.

But Warren wasn't going to let himself get beaten by Lia, no…he had a trick up his sleeve.

And when he said who would be going up first, he could have sworn he saw the fire and daggers in Lia's eyes as she walked towards the changing rooms, and then again as she was standing beside the same freshmen girl from before as her partner. Lia found out that the girl's name was Trisha, and she could fly.

"Okay, Landall and Reynolds, heroes or villains?" Warren asked and the two chose heroes.

The villains they chose to fight were sophomores, and when they started the game, all three underclassmen were slightly afraid of fighting with Lia because she was a senior. When the two villains did manage to attack both the heroes, they were easily deflected by one of Lia's forcefields, and Trisha went ahead to fly towards the dummy. As the dummy was caught, the sophomore villain sent some of his power at Lia, a huge gust of wind that lifted her off her feet and sent her flying towards the coach's high chair, knocking them both to the ground. There were yells of anger from the crowd as Lia was helped up by Warren. As she rubbed her head, she just grinned at the sophomore.

"Geez," she said to him, and he looked slightly apologetic, which seemed as if he didn't exactly know that the game was over before he sent the blast. "Next time, try not to save your full power till the end." She patted him on the back as she grabbed an ice pack near Warren's chair, which now lay in broken pieces as he sat down on a bench instead.

"You alright Mia?" he asked and she nodded at him, still holding the ice pack to the back of her head where a lump was slowly forming.

Alice looked worried as she sat down next to her.

"Are you sure you're fine? Cause if you get sent to the hospital, you might not feel at all better for your birthday tomorrow, and the party on Saturday," she said quickly, feeling Lia's forehead and fussing over her for a few moments.

"Alice, Alice, it's okay I'm perfectly fine, don't worry."

"Okay good, cause I'm really looking forward to your party," she replied enthusiastically, Lia just grinned at her friend, wondering about her upcoming party as well.

* * *

On her way to work from home that day, Lia had a feeling that she was being watched. Glancing around her however, she saw nothing but the leaves swaying slightly with the cool spring breeze. She was still a block away from the ice cream store so she walked a little faster. A car suddenly stopped beside her and she jumped slightly in fright.

"Hey Mia, are you alright?"

It turned out it was just Warren, in his black Volvo, about to turn on the corner where Lia was walking.

"Holy Shit, you scared me!" she said out loud, still on edge. He raised an eyebrow.

"I just saw you and thought I'd say hello," he said, shrugging. "Why do you look so tense anyways?"

She walked forwards closer to his passenger window, "I don't know, I just feel like someone's following me or something."

Warren's face changed, but he didn't say anything. He leaned towards his passenger door and pushed it open for Lia.

"I'll drive you to work," he responded but Lia shook her head.

"No, really Warren, it's just another block away. I'm probably just imagining things anyways."

Warren just drummed his fingers on his steering wheel, "It's okay, just get in Mia."

Finally she relented and sat down on the soft leather seat as Warren drove on.

"So where are you headed?" Lia asked Warren as he stopped at a light.

"Downtown, I have to pick up a few things there."

"I see…"

Silence, and then,

"So it's your birthday tomorrow," Warren simply stated and Lia nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm getting old."

Warren rolled his eyes, "Eighteen is not old," he commented and Lia laughed.

"Yeah, well I'm old enough to buy lottery tickets, and that's pretty much it." She grinned and as Warren drove up to the store's parking lot, Lia went on. "I'm having a party on Saturday, I'd like you to come, if you know…if you can make it."

Warren took a glance at her, "I'll try to make it."

Lia nodded and opened the door, "I hope you can, and thanks for the ride."

She waved at him and watched as he reversed and drove back to the street and out of sight. She did not notice a man in a black suit who also watched him leave, and turned his eyes back on the person he was supposed to be protecting.

Lia went inside the shop and put on her apron while she greeted Sophia, the store manager who her mom hired the year before because she wasn't able to work there any longer. She looked up to see the door opened and was surprised to see the guy she met some weeks ago, Ian.

"Hey!" she smiled up at him and Ian replied with an even brighter grin.

"It's so nice to see you again," he said. "How're things?"

"Just great, you know, school and work per usual," she answered.

Ian ruffled his hair as he sat down on the stool in front of her, "Oh yeah, I saw your hiring sign up front, can I apply?"

Lia smiled at him, "You know what? We've had that sign for weeks, no one seems to want to work here for some reason. Consider yourself hired."

"Awesome!" he said and he looked at Sophia, who smiled at him and gave him the papers for hiring.

"You can start training today," Lia smirked and picked up an ice cream scooper. "It's pretty simple actually, the customers pick a flavor, you scoop it like this- and yup, that's pretty much it."

She laughed with Ian and continued training him, right until her break, when he had to go home for dinner and she did the same. Telling her mom and dad about the new hire was slightly embarrassing.

"Oh hush," her mom said to her dad when he commented about her motives for hiring Ian, which made Lia blush crimson. "It's a good thing someone applied for the job, it's almost summer and you know how busy it gets. I'd like to meet this Ian person, he sounds nice."

"He is," Lia smiled as she took out her phone under the table and started to text Alice about their new co-worker.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: I know I know, it's been a while. I'm really sorry for not updating any sooner. With summer almost over, there's just been so many things distracting me from writing the next chapters. But I hope you guys liked this chapter. I'm not going to make any promises for when the next one will come, cause I'm still writing it right now.**

**On the other hand, I'd like to thank all the people who gave me reviews, they completely make my day, so I hope to get more of that definitely. And to my beta Offtolalaland, for letting me borrow her idea for an International Association of Superheroes, which she used for her story "Open Your Eyes" (go read it if you haven't, it's really good and almost at an end-which is very sad I know).**

**So yeah, leave your reviews and suggestions so I can make this story better. :D thankssss**

**Chapter Song: Ma Ma Mia by Abba**


	7. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop

**Chapter 6**

**I think that possibly maybe I've fallen for you**

**Yes there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you**

"Happy birthday!" Alice came over to hug Lia as soon as she saw her by her locker, which had been filled with balloons that came spilling out once she opened it.

"Aww…thanks guys," Lia said as more of her friends came by to greet and hug her. They all made their way to their first class of the day, which was Mad Science with Medulla, and then off to their Power Development class with Mr. Peace. Warren greeted Lia a happy birthday when she entered and again said her thanks, grinning as she did so.

When Warren told his class that they were having a test however, Lia groaned with the others and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What a nice birthday present _Sir_," she drawled sarcastically and Warren only smirked.

"I need to get your midterm marks done soon before your spring break, and this will be the last test for this term," he told his class, who still groaned and whined as they took out their pens and papers while Warren handed them the test papers.

After an hour, Lia left the class with her friends for lunch, where her table had a little party in honour of her birthday. It was then time for Save the Citizen. When Lia spotted Warren sitting on his reconstructed high chair, she walked towards him.

"Hey Warren," she smiled up at him.

He turned to her and raised his eyebrow, "Looks like you aren't mad at me anymore."

"Oh that," Lia waved her hand in dismissal. "Water under the bridge…but I do know how you can make it up to me," she smiled mischievously.

Warren crossed his arms, "I'm scared to even ask," he said in a monotone and Lia laughed in reply.

"Oh it's nothing serious," she reassured him. "Just don't pick me for Save the Citizen, I'd like to just watch for once. But you can pick my friends, that should be entertaining."

Warren said nothing, and kept his face composed. Lia on the other hand, knew how to break him down.

"Pleaseeeeeeee…it can be your birthday present for me. Pretty please?"

Warren immediately grimaced at her pleas, "Fine, just don't whine anymore."

Lia walked away smirking, her whining always worked on him, no matter how old they got. So during that Save the Citizen session, Lia spent a whole hour at the bleachers with her feet propped up on the bench, and a soda in her hand. She was relaxing while she watched some of her friends win and some get pummeled as they played the game.

She was definitely loving her birthday so far.

* * *

"I hope you don't mind honey, I invited Sara and Warren over for your birthday dinner," Lia's mom said to her when she came home from school that day.

"No of course not, I'd love for them to come," she said as she prepared to go to the ice cream shop. Sophia the manager had to leave the shop for a couple of hours, and it was only Ian working so Lia volunteered to go over until she came back.

They were having a small birthday dinner that night with Lia's best friends Nate and Alice, her aunt, uncle, and little cousin, and now Warren and his mom were coming as well. Lia closed the door behind her and set off for work, once again getting a peculiar feeling of being watched. When she finally got to the shop, she was greeted by a happy Ian, who was already in his uniform and taking orders.

"Hey!" he grinned up at her. "Sophia told me it was your birthday today, happy birthday!"

"Thanks," she said gratefully as she soon joined him in taking the customers' orders.

At half past 4, the store's door opened with the usual 'ding', Lia glanced up and saw Warren come in. She was surprised to see him in his leather jacket, something that she hadn't seen him wear for a long time.

"Ahh, I see the leather jacket still fits," she teased as Warren sat down on the counter stool in front of her.

"I wanted to ask if it was okay for me to crash your birthday dinner," he stated simply, his arms crossed on the counter.

Lia rolled her eyes at him, "You won't be crashing it, you're invited," she pointed out.

"Good, my mother has been complaining about not seeing you for a while now," he shrugged.

Lia laughed and was about to say something more to him but a group of kids from a soccer team came in and ordered. She helped Ian take the orders, and laughed and joked with him about the nasty sundaes the kids were ordering. She didn't notice Warren as he watched them, a frown starting to form on his face.

When the last of their customers left with their orders, Lia went over to speak to Warren again, dragging Ian with her.

"This is Warren by the way," Lia said to Ian and he held out his hand, which Warren took reluctantly.

"Isn't she crazy for working on her birthday?" Ian said jokingly to him but all he got was a glowering Warren, who turned to Lia swiftly and said,

"I have to go, I'll see you later."

Lia, however, did not let Warren off that quick. She followed him out of the door after muttering a quick apology to Ian- who seemed completely undisturbed by Warren's attitude- and she rounded on him.

"Hey what's up?" she demanded. "I know you're sometimes really cold to other people but you could have been a little nicer to Ian," she frowned.

"I don't know," Warren shook his head. "There's just something about him I don't like."

"Oh right, because you're a very good judge of character, especially to those you've only just met," she replied sarcastically. She turned to go in frustration but Warren grabbed her hand.

"Look Mia I'm sorry, I'll try to be nicer next time, I just…don't know what came over me," he said, sincere apology in his voice. "I don't want you mad at me on your birthday and throughout your dinner later."

Lia looked at him, and she didn't know what made her do it, but she was suddenly hugging Warren. It was obvious that Warren was as surprised as she was of her action so he patted her back awkwardly in reply. When she let go, she stammered out.

"I, umm… I'll see you later Warren," and she turned away, leaving Warren as taken aback as he was before.

He shook his thoughts out of his head and got into his car, glancing at a box on the passenger seat which contained Lia's birthday gift. Warren hadn't given her a birthday present since her 15th birthday and hoped that this one would make up for it…in one way or another. He drove away, heading towards his mother's house on the same street where Lia lived.

When at last Lia was free to leave the ice cream shop, she said her goodbyes to Ian and Sophia and spotted her dad's car in the parking lot. After about a minute car ride, Lia and her parents waited for their guests to arrive.

The first ones to come were Lia's aunt Sophie, uncle Bill and her little cousin Eddie. Her uncle Bill is her mother's brother and since her dad was an only child, Eddie was her only cousin. She hugged him and swung him around just like she always did when they saw each other. Little Edward was a seven year old prankster, something that Lia's brother Andrew was proud to admit he had a hand on. They handed Lia her present- a big box containing who knew what-and she placed them at a side table in the living room. Next to come were Alice and Nate, and then finally, Mrs. Peace and Warren.

"Dinner's ready," Lia's mom called from the dining room, where the smell of roast chicken and potatoes made everyone hungry. As they were all sitting down, the doorbell rang.

"Did you invite anyone else?" asked Lia as she got up to open the door, with her guests able to see the front door where they sat. Her mother shrugged in reply and stood up as well.

Lia opened the door and to her surprise saw an enormous box topped with a blue bow almost her height.

"What?" Lia turned to look back at her guests and they shrugged as they looked on.

She turned towards the box and was once again surprised to see it gone, but instead replaced by a grinning 22 year old.

"Andrew!" she rushed over to hug him and Andrew laughed and waved at the guests in the house.

"I sure hope that's a big present for me and not just a bunch of smaller boxes inside," Lia said and Andrew just grinned mischievously at her.

"You know me too well, but you have to open it to find out for sure," he laughed as he dragged her present and left it by the other gifts.

They walked back to the dining room and their parents hugged their son happily, not having seen him since the holidays. After the greetings, everyone started to eat, talking and laughing the whole time. Warren, who always was good friends with Andrew, was talking to him about their jobs. With Andrew not ever knowing his sister got into a fight with Warren for two years, he found his teaching at Sky High highly amusing.

"You?" he said jokingly. "Teach these brats? Ohh I would love to have your job," he pointed at the three friends, and Alice replied by sticking her tongue out at him and Lia hit him on the arm.

Halfway through dessert- a scrumptious vanilla hazelnut birthday cake- Andrew cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"I know this is Lia's very special day but I have another announcement to make," he started, and Lia, who had her glass halfway through her mouth, set it down to listen attentively. "Julie and I are getting married."

Lia opened her mouth in surprise and congratulations rained upon Andrew. Julie had been his girlfriend for almost 5 years and they worked together in New York. He said that Julie wanted to come to Lia's party but she was called in for a mission unfortunately. Apparently he proposed to her only a week ago, and they've set a date for a late summer wedding.

"Just as long as you make me and Alice your bridesmaids, we're good to go," Lia teased as everyone started talking about his wedding.

Lia's birthday ended in good spirits, everyone leaving late into the night after hours of conversations and Lia opening her gifts. The next morning, Lia opened her eyes after she felt a pillow hit her head, and heard a chuckling Alice run for the door.

"I'm going downstairs to help your mom set up for the party, just get ready quick," she called as she ran down the stairs.

Lia grumbled and got out of bed, headed for her bathroom. She emerged dressed in her party attire; a pair of jeans and a pretty top. As she sat in front of her mirror to brush her hair, she heard leaves rustle at the tree near her window, and then a thud on her balcony. She stood up cautiously to look over and as she drew the curtains on her balcony door, she let out a gasp as she saw a figure on the outside.

He tapped on the window and waved at her stunned face, and she opened the door slowly.

"Warren?" she said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to say that I can't make it to your party later on, and so I'm giving you your gift now," he answered as he stepped forwards and entered her room. "I haven't climbed up your tree since the 8th grade, I think I might have broken a branch."

Lia chuckled, "Good thing you didn't slip and fall like you always did."

"Here's your present," Warren changed the subject and Lia raised her eyebrow teasingly, and smiled as he handed her a small golden box.

"But you already gave me a present last night," Lia said to him, holding the box and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"My mother got that present and just decided to put my name on the card," he shrugged. "I think you'll like this one better than a spa certificate."

"Thank you," she smiled as she proceeded on opening it. "And the spa certificate from your mom was awesome, by the way."

His gift was a simple silver charm, a small heart with an '18' carved on it.

Warren watched her reaction, "I hope you still have the bracelet."

He was referring to the charm bracelet that Lia had gotten when she was 8 years old from Warren himself (with the help of his mother of course), and every year he would give her a charm for the bracelet. It was a tradition that broke when the two ended their friendship.

Lia stared at Warren, speechless, with a small smile on her face. She promptly stood up, and headed over to a table on her right. She opened a drawer and revealed a tiny box underneath a mass of things. Lia then took out the bracelet from the box and placed the new charm she got on it.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she said softly and headed over to Warren to hug him.

"I'm glad you liked it," he replied as he held her still and traced his fingers through her hair.

After a little while he left, saying only a few words, leaving Lia with a feeling that he was hiding something from her. She decided to come back to those speculations after her party and ended up going downstairs to help set up, her old charm bracelet on her right hand.

* * *

Warren sat on a couch in his apartment, looking out his window which showed a bright view of downtown Maxville. Glancing at his phone, he started to miss his mission calls- he wanted to don his superhero gear, and he longed to use his powers. Staying out of the field work scene was making him agitated, and going to the hero centre, even just his office there, made him feel utterly useless.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts, and he stood up to open it.

Will and Layla appeared on the doorway, smiling. They had a box of pizza with them, and the three friends ended up watching some movie as they ate.

"So how's it going with you and Lia?" Layla curiously asked Warren, who looked surprised at her question.

"What do you mean?" he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice that Will and Layla were quick to notice-

"Well, you guys seem to be hitting it off quite well, as friends I mean," she added the last part quickly.

"Yeah, it's great," he muttered in reply.

Layla took a short glance at Will, as if the two were having a silent conversation. They've been Warren's friends for a long time and they knew how to read him well. They've seen how close Warren and Lia have gotten over the past weeks and they saw a gradual change in his behavior in response to this.

She was the very thing that kept him from ignoring the IAS relocation request until Dr. Grey and his people were all back in jail. Will, being Warren's best friend, was the one who encouraged him to take the job at Sky High, but he never thought he'd last this long. The only thing that changed was his connection to Lia.

And that was a clear enough indication for Will and Layla that something was definitely going on between the two.

* * *

Waking up the next Monday was a hard feat. Oh how Lia wished it was still her birthday, but sadly, both her parties had ended, and she had to go back to school. In preparation for their upcoming graduation, all the seniors at school were getting their costumes and hero names down. They were all receiving their acceptance letters and were completely excited about their upcoming initiations. Warren's class was becoming more challenging, as he started taking out groups to downtown Maxville where they can do real-life missions. Most of them succeeded in the missions, and after all the groups finished that Friday, they had a party in their class, and all celebrated the start of their spring break.

Warren left his students chatting, singing and whatnot in the gym as he went into the top balcony where all the Save the Citizen controls were. He sat down and read some documents that were sent to him on his phone, glancing occasionally at his class in case they became really chaotic. Alice was jumping up and down and her friends were all laughing, talking about their plans for spring break and everyone seemed to be really excited for their weeklong stay in Florida.

"So my parents have the cottage all set up, but we have to get our own food and everything else," Alice told everyone that was going, which included Nate, Lia, Sean and his girlfriend Diane, Lucy, Riley, Pete, and Kevin.

"You guys got your plane tickets right?" Nate asked them, and everyone nodded; all of them were going on the same plane, but they found out that they would be scattered around the plane since it was peak season and they were all lucky enough to have gotten on the same flight.

When the school bell finally rang and signaled the official start of spring break, Warren's whole class cheered and the same happiness could be heard outside in the hallways. Warren saw Lia and her friends laughing as they reminded each other not to miss anything while packing their things for Florida, and he saw her run up to him with a huge smile on her face.

"I can see you're very excited for your trip to Florida," he commented and she laughed.

"Who wouldn't be?" she joked. "With the 'rents out of the picture, we can do whatever we want."

He rolled his eyes, "Well as long as you don't end up committing a crime, I don't want to have a student criminal."

Lia laughed along and asked him where he was going for the break.

"Same old," he replied. "Mark some tests, do some research and follow up on missions, it'll be quite fun," he finished sarcastically.

"I bet it will," Lia said jokingly, and then giggled. "I better go, I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

He nodded, "Have fun and take care of yourself okay?"

"Of course," she replied happily. "See ya Warren."

Giving him a brief hug, she walked away and hopped on her bus to head home, while Warren got in his car and drove around Maxville, trying to clear his head.

Lia's parents were first opposed to her going away for her spring break, on account of a villain making her one of his targets. But the IAS confirmed that the state of Florida had about the same number of supers as in New York or London, and even Toronto, which meant that their villain could not afford to attack in that area. This reasoning had been proven countless of times and the only ones who ever attacked those cities were the big time villain teams who had lots of resources and were not scared to be beaten by many powerful supers.

It was decided that Lia would be allowed to go, and without her protector from the IAS following her around. It also comforted her parents that she was going with 8 other supers, and no doubt they were all prepared for a fight if ever it was needed.

But somehow Warren still felt like Lia shouldn't go on the trip, even with these reasons, and he just couldn't put his finger on it. All of a sudden while driving towards his mother's house he spotted none other than Lia walking out of her ice cream shop.

He was curious as to where she was heading, but he kept it under control, he didn't want to seem as if he were… stalking her. He couldn't believe it; he was slowly turning into Lia, or at least what she used to be like. He was going to have to do something about that-what though, he didn't know. In the end his curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself following her towards the coffee shop across the street. Parking his car, he entered and looked around. She was sitting on the stool at one of the high tables near the back of the shop looking at the menu, and Warren found himself walking up to her.

"Hey," his voice sounded strange to him, and Lia looked up, surprised but pleased to see him all the same.

"Hi Warren, fancy meeting you here," she smiled.

"I was in the neighbourhood," replied Warren, sitting down beside her. "What would you like? Coffee? Hot chocolate? My treat," he asked and Lia grinned and said hot chocolate with her thanks.

Warren stood up to get their drinks, and left a somewhat confused Lia back at the table, as she wondered why Warren just suddenly turned up where she was. But really, she thought, she felt great to have him as company.

"Thanks," she said to him when he got back, two steaming mugs of hot chocolate for her and black coffee for himself.

"So," Warren simply stated, starting the conversation.

Lia sipped her drink, "So," she replied, wondering where they were going with this.

A moment of silence, then Lia broke it by asking, "Since when did we run out of things to talk about?"

Warren smiled a little and crossed his arms on the table, "Well…you can always ask me about my work, and I can ask you about school, although that can be a boring topic sometimes."

"It does sound a bit boring, but what the heck," she laughed. "How do you like your work?"

He grinned, "Quite well."

"Hmmm…I see…" Lia nodded lightly. "And will you stay in school until next year? I mean, you're Coach Boomer's substitute but he's coming back, so are you planning on becoming the second gym teacher?"

Warren shook his head no quickly, "I think Sky High only needs one gym teacher, and the kids there probably miss Boomer."

Lia giggled at his comment and said, "Just admit you don't want to stay there for long," she joked.

"Oh yes," he replied trying to sound serious. "I don't fancy teaching another group of annoying seniors like your class."

Lia laughed out loud and Warren smiled at her, "Annoying? Oh you've got us spot on," she giggled and couldn't stop. "We always pride ourselves in being the most ridiculously annoying class at school, and because you're Warren Peace, we made a lot of effort to infuriate you even more. In a good and fun way of course," she added teasingly.

"Because I'm Warren Peace?" he asked shaking his head and smiled slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lia giggled even more, "Oh come on, we all knew you when you were still at school. You're probably one of the most feared and somewhat _adored_ students that ever graced the halls of Sky High. It was all the more fun for us to be your students."

"Feared and adored?" he said with a slightly bemused face. "I don't know whether I should be offended or not."

Lia smiled as she sipped on her hot chocolate, "Well, it's true, you were the famous hothead everyone wanted to be friends with, don't you remember?"

Her laughter was infectious and Warren couldn't stop looking at her, her face lit up as she smiled, and like a magnet, he was drawn to it. He leaned over towards Lia, and at once, kissed her. Lia was taken aback, her eyes as wide as saucers at first, but the warm pressure on her lips froze her to where she was sitting, and she eventually gave in. It must have been seconds; they felt as if they were the only ones in that coffee shop and their kiss continued.

In a moment of realization however, Lia came back to her senses and pulled away. Warren looked at her, surprise on his face at what he just did, and then Lia stood up from her seat, a slightly scared look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I have to go."

Just like that the laughter ceased, only to be replaced by a ringing silence. Warren sat frozen on his seat, looking towards the door where Lia disappeared to, and felt his heart pounding loudly against his chest. Lia on the other hand, walked fast away from the cafe, and when the building was out of sight, she began to run, and kept running, the pounding on her chest also getting stronger by the minute.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N:**

**To all those still reading this, all I can say is wow, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. It is so hard to keep updating especially with the growing schoolwork and the need to procrastinate on my part (which I should really work on I know). So thanks a lot for those of you still keeping up with this one.**

**I wrote a specially long chapter to make up for the wait, so reviews, comments, or suggestions are very welcome. :) The next chapter is still in the works but I hope to post it up sometime this year (hahahh kidding, but I'm def. hoping around February)**

**So until then, CHEERSS! :D**

**Chapter Song: Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg**


	8. Misguided Ghosts

**Chapter 7**

**Now I'm told that this is life**

**And pain is just a simple compromise**

**So we can get what we want out of it…**

**So I can find someone to rely on**

**And run, to them, Full speed ahead**

Her house was in sight, and Lia slowed down, panting slightly. She felt someone follow her while she was running, but didn't care; if it had been another day she would have freaked out. Pulling the strap of the messenger bag over her head, she grabbed her keys to open the front door. Her mother greeted her from the kitchen when she entered, and she said something simple in reply, headed upstairs for her room.

Lia slumped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, but the only thing she saw was his face. As she closed her eyes, she held back a frustrated scream. Alice's number was quickly dialed and her voice heard on the other line.

"Alice?" Lia asked with a strained voice. "Can you come over? Please."

Alice sounded worried in her reply, "Of course, I'll be right there."

Lia stared back at her ceiling, wondering what she was going to say to Alice when she got there.

* * *

"She sounded strange," Alice said to Nate; the two were in his house, watching a movie. "I'm gonna go and see what's up with her."

"Okay, tell her I said feel better," Nate said as he hugged her goodbye. "And not to get sick before our trip," he added as a joke.

Alice grinned and also said goodbye to Zack and Magenta, who sat at the dining room table playing cards.

Alice knocked on the Landall's front door and was greeted by Mrs. Landall, who smiled at Alice and told her that dinner was soon so the two girls better be ready.

"Okay, I'll tell Lia, thanks Mrs. L," Alice replied, and ran up the steps two at a time. Lia's door was closed, and when she pushed it open, Alice saw her friend staring up at the ceiling, still as ever.

"Lia?" she said cautiously, walking up to her. "What's wrong?"

Lia took her eyes off the ceiling and looked at her friend instead, "So many things," she sighed.

Alice sat on the bed beside Lia, "Start with the first thing that's wrong with you," she said and Lia sat up.

"I have no idea what I want," she replied quietly, and Alice raised an eyebrow.

"I see," Alice started, looking at her thoughtfully. "And you've come to this conclusion because...?"

"I kissed him," came Lia's short response.

Alice scrunched her eyes in confusion, "I'm sorry…what?"

Lia shrugged, "Well, he kissed me and I kissed him back, and it was just…so stupid…"

As Lia spoke Alice's eyes became wider and wider, and her mouth followed suit as she guessed the person Lia was talking about.

"Warren?" she asked slowly, and Lia nodded. "Wow…"

"Alice what do I do?" Lia asked, hopeless, and Alice just smiled at her.

"Lia, he kissed you!" she jumped up happily. "You've been in love with him forever and he finally kissed you! If you were still 16 you'd be squealing and jumping with me out of happiness."

Lia shook her head and pointed out, "That's the thing Alice, I'm not 16 anymore."

Silence, and then Alice grabbed Lia's shoulders, "How did you feel when you kissed?"

Lia didn't respond and after a few seconds, Alice stared her down so she would answer the question. Lia gave up in the end and leaned back to lie down on her bed, her arms spread out.

"It felt wonderful," she breathed out.

Alice just grinned, and the two heard Lia's mom call them down for dinner. She looked back at Lia, and held out her hands to help her stand up.

"You know what Lia," Alice told her, still smiling. "Just think about that feeling, and I'm sure you'll know what to do."

Lia sighed in reply and went down to dinner with Alice, wishing her suggestion was as easy as it sounded. She composed herself before she faced her parents, and put on her happy face just for dinner.

"So," Lia's dad said to the two during dinner. "Are you two coming to drop us off at the Centre tomorrow?"

Lia's parents were going to England for a conference and also stay for a week-long holiday. It was a perfect timing since Lia was going away for her spring break anyways. The two were leaving the next day, taking a private jet with other supers going for the conference as well.

"Yeah sure, Alice?" Lia turned to Alice who said her yes.

"Great," Lia's mother smiled at the girls. "And what would you two like me to bring for you from London?"

The rest of their dinner was spent talking about shopping, both in London and in Florida for the girls. Lia's dad sighed and let the women talk amongst themselves, and wished he had at least one man to talk to…anything but shopping.

Alice slept over at Lia's house that night and helped her pack her belongings; she was going to stay at Alice's house after her parents leave so that Alice's parents can drop them off at the airport on Monday.

The two didn't bring up the subject of Warren anymore that night, for Alice was certain that Lia just needed a little more time to make up her mind. The next day, as the two helped load luggage on to the car, Alice raised the issue up again.

"So, Lia," she started. "How do you feel today?"

Lia smiled slightly, "Much better."

"Know what you're going to do?" she asked and Lia nodded in reply.

Alice only hoped that she'd do the right thing.

The flight hangar at the top floor of the Hero Centre was packed with many supers heading for the London Hero Conference. Lia and Alice said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Landall as they started to board the plane with the others, and they promised to behave on their Florida trip.

"We will, don't worry about us. Just have fun on your holiday," Lia reassured her parents and as they started moving up the line to the tarmac, she added. "And don't forget our presents!"

Laughing and waving goodbye, the two friends set off down the elevators and to the parking lot. The two heard a ding on floor number 10 and when the doors opened, Alice's mouth fell open.

Warren looked at the two and said hello as he entered the elevator. Alice replied but Lia stayed silent as she watched him push the number 8. He turned to Lia, and when she looked back at him, she saw that his expression was different.

"Mia can I talk to you?" Warren asked, and Alice took that as her cue to leave the two alone. The doors opened at floor 8.

"I'll go straight down to the parking lot and get the car out, you two go ahead," she said and Lia and Warren stepped out. Alice pushed the close button quickly and disappeared from sight.

The two walked to the right of the hallway and stopped at an office. The outside walls were glass but the covers were pulled down, and when Warren opened the door, Lia realized it was his office. It was fairly large, with a wooden desk on the right side and a couch and some chairs with a coffee table on the other side. The outside view was downtown Maxville, and Lia had a feeling that it would be a more spectacular view at nighttime with the city's night lights. There were pictures and paintings on his walls, and fan cards could be seen on the clipboard to the left of his desk.

Warren walked up to his window and looked out for a moment, then turned back to Lia, who was still standing just a few inches from the door.

"Look, about yesterday, I didn't mean to upset you," he started, and tried to read her facial expression, which would give him a clue as to whether to continue or not.

Lia held up her hand to stop him, "Warren it's okay, I know it was all a mistake and I'm sorry, I hope we can just forget about this and stay as friends okay?"

All of Warren's thoughts about telling Lia how he felt went out the door as quickly as she spoke. Warren was evidently hurt by her words, but he composed his face in an instant and nodded at her shortly, "Of course."

It was the shortest conversation they've ever had, but yet there were so many unspoken words going through both of their heads at that moment. Lia wanted to get out quickly so she said goodbye as politely as she could and walked out the door, all the while feeling her stomach clench as she walked away from him. Warren on the other hand, put his face in his hands and let out a frustrated sigh inside his office.

* * *

"Lia," Nate started, when Lia recalled what happened as they traipsed into Alice's living room. "Since when did you become so stupid?"

Lia glared at him, so he added, "Well it's true, you lied to him."

She shook her head and leaned back on the couch, looking at her two friends, "Look, Warren and I are finally friends again... I don't want to ruin that because of this. If you ask me, that's not being stupid at all."

Alice sighed and said nothing. Nate, however, was resolved on convincing Lia to tell Warren that she still is, in fact, in love with him.

"Millie," he said softly, and Lia noted his return to her nickname."This... This is going to ruin your friendship."

Lia opened her mouth to retort but Nate cut her off.

"I've known you since we were ten, and when I met you you loved Warren as a friend," he continued and Lia looked at him, sadness in her eyes. "You grew up and you fell in love with him didn't you? Even when you two fell apart, you still felt that way. But for the last two years you kept convincing yourself that that wasn't the case anymore."

Silence, then he kept going, "Now, if you ask me, I think that a person who can feel that way to someone else like you did will find it very hard to walk away from it."

"I did walk away from it Nate," Lia replied quietly.

Nate smiled slightly, "You walked away from him, not your feelings." Lia didn't respond, so he knew he'd won that round.

* * *

Warren sat at a table inside the Paper Lantern, looking around at the place he worked at for four years, and noticed the changes like the wall decorations and the menu. Mrs. Lu came up to him and he stood up to give her a warm hug.

"Warren, you haven't visited in a while," she smiled up at him. "I hope the IAS isn't giving you too much work to do, I know they did in my time."

Mrs. Lu was a retired super who worked with the International Association of Superheroes as a diplomat, which complemented her powers since she had the ability to speak more than a hundred languages and dialects.

"It's not too bad," Warren replied as he sat down and Mrs. Lu asked him what he wanted for dinner. He ordered some chicken and noodles from the Chinese menu.

"Glad to see you still know how to read and speak Cantonese," Mrs. Lu patted his shoulder and walked towards the kitchen smiling.

Looking towards the kitchen window where there were high stools for people to sit on while they wait for their take-out orders, Warren started to recall his times there as a waiter and busboy.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

_"So why are you so mean to this Stronghold kid? I'm sure it's not because he landed you in detention," Lia said as she ate her noodles at one of the high chairs by the kitchen window, looking at Warren who was waiting for the orders to be finished. She recently had braces put on her teeth so Warren was still getting used to the difference in her voice, which had a slight lisp to it._

_Warren shook his head, "He's just an annoying kid okay? I don't like him."_

_Lia shook her head, imitating him, "Tsk, tsk, Warren. If he's annoying then all you have to do is get past that, I'm sure you'll be great friends."_

_He scoffed in reply, "Fat chance."_

_"Hey, I myself am very annoying, you've said it about a million times, what's the difference between me and this Stronghold person?" she asked with her eyebrow raised._

_Warren opened his mouth to reply but Lia cut him off with a threatening finger, "And don't say it's because his dad put your dad in jail, cause I'm gonna hit you if you say that."_

_"I wasn't going to say that," he rolled his eyes. "I was going to say that he is one cocky kid, he got his powers and now he's creaming it for the popular crowd."_

_"Oh," Lia replied, beaten._

_The orders came up and Warren took them; one was a vegetarian meal and the other some chicken and fried rice._

_"'Oh' is right," Warren told Lia condescendingly, which prompted her to stick out her tongue at him while she stabbed her dinner with her chopsticks._

_When he finished taking care of the orders, he went back to where Lia was eating slowly while reading a book for school._

_"Wouldn't you rather do your homework at home?" he asked and she shook her head no, their previous spat forgotten already._

_"I don't like it when the house is empty, Andrew is off at a friend's house for some school project and my parents are still at the hospital labs," she said and looking around she added, "Plus I love people watching."_

_So she stayed there until closing time, trying to finish off an apple pie and almost finishing her book. Warren was cleaning up the tables, and after she finally finished all of her dinner, Lia helped by stacking up the plates and glasses in the dishwasher inside. Mrs. Lu was telling Lia stories about her past adventures in different countries and Lia was amazed at all the things she had done. When Warren came back with another load of dirty dishes, Lia looked through the kitchen window and saw one person still sitting on one of the tables._

_"Why is that girl still here?" she asked. "Does she know this place is closing soon?"_

_Warren shrugged and looking over at the girl, and recognized her as one of the freshmen Stronghold was always around with._

_"Do you know her?" Lia said inquisitively as she saw him look at the girl._

_"I think she goes to my school."_

_Lia nudged him and he looked back at her, "Well go talk to her, she looks sad and lonely."_

_"Why would I do that?" he asked grumpily. "You can go and talk to her if you really want to."_

_"I don't know her genius," she replied with her arms crossed. "And it seems as if she hasn't touched her food, she must have a big problem."_

_In the end he finally agreed, and Lia packed up her things to go home. She said her goodbyes to Mrs. Lu in the kitchen, Catherine the waitress who was folding napkins on one of the tables, and Jimmy the cook as he took out the trash. Before leaving she urged Warren to get moving and talk to the girl with the red hair. When she walked out the door, she looked past the windows and saw Warren sitting across from her. Lia smiled and went home herself._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

He remembered that as the day he became sort of friends with Layla, and eventually with the rest of the gang. Warren didn't have any close friends his age, merely acquaintances, and being friends with the gang was a good change for him.

But sometimes he thought that his becoming friends with them had compromised his friendship with Lia- a little at first because the two still spent time together, but after a year, his time with her became less as he spent more time with the others. The year after that, Lia finally came to Sky High and was dubbed a hero. She made her own friends, including the ones she had been good friends with since elementary school. Warren being a junior eventually made the gap between them wider, and the two became almost like mere acquaintances.

Warren saw Lia enter through her geeky stage, which not only included her looks- with her braces and glasses and the dreaded teenage acne- but also her preference to join clubs such as the fantasy world role playing, and scrabble club. She was one of the heroes who stayed far from the popular upperclassmen heroes, and the popular ones paid her no attention since she was, after all, just a nerd. Warren was indifferent to her geeky side, because she had fun with her friends, and like him, didn't care about what other people thought.

Then Lia's parents were getting divorced, and everything changed. The dreaded event happened and Warren ended up leaving Sky High without his childhood best friend cheering him on.

And now…well, he admitted to himself that his feelings have changed, the only problem was that she turned away from him, just like in the past. He didn't realize until recently how much he really missed her and needed her in his life, and liking her, even to the point of being in love with her…that was news to him.

But a welcome news at that.

* * *

Everyone was packed and ready to go to Florida on Monday morning, and they all assembled at Alice's house before heading out to the airport. Nate and Alice decided that they would let Lia take some time to fix her issues with Warren, and their vacation was something that she would need. Their flight was at 6 in the night so they still had plenty of time to kill.

At half past 10 in the morning however, the teens received the most dreadful news while watching the morning report on the television.

The news reporter was standing in a hotel, and a storm was clearly seen behind her on the outside. "This is a much unexpected weather occurrence here in Florida, but as you can see, the hurricane has caused flooding and wreckage. Flights have been cancelled in and out of the state and meteorologists are predicting this to be a long and hard storm period."

The news scene changed back to the main studio newscaster who said that everyone scheduled to fly for Florida have had their flights cancelled, and that full refunds will be issued immediately to them.

The friends looked at each other, shocked, and they groaned in defeat.

"So much for spring break," Nate muttered as they all whipped out their phones and called their parents and others.

"It's strange though," Lia said to Lucy, Pete, and Riley at the kitchen table. "There were never any hurricanes predicted to hit Florida at this time, it just…happened all of a sudden."

Riley shrugged, "Maybe it was some villain who really hates people going there for their break."

"Maybe."

Lia sighed, it looked like the vacation she needed was never going to happen.

* * *

"Ethan Reynolds, 5th Unit, please,"

"Yes, Mr. Peace, just a moment."

Warren held the phone to his ear in his office, waiting for Ethan to take his call. Ethan was currently managing the 5th Unit of the Maxville Hero Centre- the unit which dealt with guarding people from the superpowered community when needed.

"Hey Warren, what's up?" Ethan answered from the other end.

"I need you to activate security on Amelia Landall," Warren replied, twisting his pen as he did so. "The trip out of Maxville was cancelled since there was a freak storm in Florida."

Ethan was heard typing something onto his computer and said, "Done, do you suppose it was Grey who stopped her trip short?"

"It's possible."

** TBC**

* * *

**A/N: There you are folks, another finished chap. Hope you liked it! And just to let you know I'm up for any suggestions as to how Lia and Warren are gonna get together. I have a few ideas in mind but I'm still contemplating on those ;)**

**So review and write out your suggestions! I'd really appreciate that**

**Thanks!**

******Chapter Song: Misguided Ghosts by Paramore**  



	9. Faster

**Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put disclaimers on my chapters so here it is- I do not own Sky High or any of its characters, Disney obviously does. All OC's are mine of course, and the chapter songs are currently in my ipod so technically I own them too (Okay, not really but you know what I mean ;P)**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Now you don't know what to do  
time ticks away and you got to choose  
you know which feeling is the right one**

**This is what it looks like  
This is what it feels like  
and this is your heart beating faster, and faster**

Three friends headed over to the Central Bank of Maxville to deposit the cheques mailed to them by the flight centre due to their cancelled trip. It was a bright Wednesday afternoon and the line-ups were quite long inside the bank. Nate, Alice, and Lia were all patiently waiting in one of the lines to see a teller.

"This is taking soooo long," Nate whined, obviously not as patient as his girlfriend and best friend.

"We're almost there," Alice said as she tapped her foot impatiently as well. "Besides just think about our rollercoaster rides at the park later on."

They had planned to go to the amusement park for the day with the rest of their friends; they had actually planned to visit a lot of different places to make up for their cancelled trip, since they were all still pretty bummed about recent events.

A few minutes in the line and something seemed to be happening at the front teller desk. A man was pounding his fist on the table and the teller patiently asked him to calm down.

"Any idea what he's saying?" Lia murmured to Alice, who with her super hearing tried to eavesdrop in on them.

"Something about the bank losing his money," Alice whispered back, sounding confused. "But the teller's saying she doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Oh, that's weird," Lia whispered back as she looked at the man in front, he was wearing a white suit and a briefcase, and saw him quickly glance around the room.

"Do you hear that?" Alice suddenly said, sounding worried. Nate looked at her inquisitively but she only narrowed her eyes and turned around to face Lia.

Lia was about to say something to her friends when someone grabbed hold of her hands and twisted them back while she was pulled against someone's chest. She felt cold metal pressed on the side of her head and people screaming in response. Looking at Alice and Nate's horrified faces Lia noticed that she wasn't the only one with a gun to her head; there were several men in other lines holding their own hostages, and could see about three from where she was.

"Everyone get down!" the man who they saw complaining at the teller desk before shouted. "Get down or we'll shoot your heads off!"

Lia watched as her friends and so many others went down on their knees, watching in horror as she felt herself being pulled back towards the windows, near the customer service desk. She saw two security guards on the floor, unconscious, with the doors shut and guarded by another man armed with a gun.

"And I suppose you want all the money in this bank?" Lia said to her captor sarcastically, trying to put up a façade. "How original."

"Yes, dollface, that's exactly what we want," he replied and Lia could hear the sneer on his voice. "So I'm gonna need you to shut your yap and co-operate unless you want me to blow your head to pieces."

"Yes sir," she muttered, her voice dripping with disdain.

The man with the white suit who seemed to be the leader of the pack disappeared to the inside of the offices, headed for the vault, as the other hostages stayed still, hoping for help to come soon. Alice and Nate kept Lia in their eyesight as they waited anxiously.

"Now let's see and wait how long your precious superheroes will get here," he sneered at them.

* * *

The Enforcer and Ivy were at the hero centre poring over some documents in their offices when they received a distress call from Unit 5, the protection agency.

"This is agent 102 calling for back-up," came the response from the other end. "Client number 228, Amelia L. has been taken hostage along with others in the Central Bank of Maxville."

The two were quick in their response and soon were flying down to their mission. When they arrived at the scene multiple police cars noticed and waved them over.

"The doors are locked and they've got multiple hostages with guns to their heads, they've already given the warning that they'll shoot as soon as we get at least 10 metres from the doors," the chief policeman informed the two supers.

The Enforcer and his partner Ivy looked ahead to the glass windows and spotted all the hostages down on the floor and a few on their feet, with suited men behind them.

"Derek's inside," Will noted, addressing the agent who was responsible for guarding Amelia Landall.

"I see plants along the window ledges," Ivy muttered at her boyfriend, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

* * *

Lia was fighting the urge to elbow the man behind her when all of a sudden she heard a yelp from nearby. Seconds after she felt the gun pressure on her temple disappear as it was yanked off the criminal's hands. Taking her chance, Lia finally elbowed him, and kneed him on the groin, hard. She saw the gun that was whipped off his hand within a mass of bushes on the window ledge. The rest of the criminals with hostages seemed to have the same thing happen to them, and the hostages scrambled to get away.

As Lia expected from seeing the plants' behaviour, the Enforcer and Ivy stormed in and charged at the criminals. Most were rendered unconscious by the Enforcer, some tangled up in plants thanks to Ivy. The Enforcer flew towards the leader who just came out of the vaults carrying a large sack. Seeing him, he fired his gun offensively, but the bullets just bounced off of the Enforcer.

The team leader was being tied down when the criminal that Lia just fought off reached down to his shoe and grabbed a pocket knife. Lia watched as everyone ducked down when they heard the gunshots and when she felt someone behind her move she turned around quickly and saw a flash of silver.

Taking a defensive stance, she gasped as she saw a figure step in front of her to tackle the criminal with the knife, which he dropped almost instantly and with a punch to the face he went down. The Enforcer saw this and instantly rushed over to them after taking care of his previous problem. Lia stared at her rescuer, speechless; he was tall, and wore a crisp suit with black sunglasses, and looked somewhat familiar. She watched as the Enforcer came and shook his hand in thanks and as he left Lia also thanked him. He nodded politely at her before walking off towards the place where the others were gathered.

"Oh my god Lia, are you alright?" Alice and Nate came over and hugged their friend, saying a quick thank you to the Enforcer and Ivy as they passed by them.

The police started to round up the criminals and the media was at the door waiting to be let in. The two superheroes spoke to the three friends.

"Do you guys mind waiting for us at the corner street after we handle the media?" Ivy asked them.

Lia nodded, "Of course."

* * *

Warren sat in his living room as he marked test papers while he watched the news at the same time. A few moments later, Stronghold and Hippie appeared on the screen and made him turn and focus his attention on them.

"The hostage situation here at the Central Bank of Maxville is over thanks to the Enforcer and Ivy, who arrived at the scene in less than 5 minutes after the distress call was made. This is the fastest recorded time we've ever witnessed and we're certainly grateful for this," the news reporter was seen walking towards the front door of the bank and then on the inside. "The criminals have all been apprehended, and we have the Enforcer and Ivy here to make a statement."

As Stronghold and Layla were being interviewed, he noticed a familiar face walk behind them and out of sight, wearing a suit and sunglasses. Before he wondered what Derek Harter was doing there, he saw her.

There was no mistaking her face, her hair was messed up a little as she stood off to the side, speaking to a police officer.

Quickly he turned off his TV, grabbed his jacket from the arm of the couch and strode out the door.

* * *

"Quite a day for you guys huh?" Will asked Lia and her friends as they walked down the street from the bank. He and Layla were back to their citizen forms after taking care of the bank situation and leaving the police to do the cleanups.

"Yeah," Alice breathed out. "But you two came really fast, which was pretty amazing."

"Lucky we were close by," Layla smiled at the three, she caught Lia's eye and saw something in there that quite reminded her of someone else. Was it sadness? She wasn't sure.

Lia sensed that Layla wanted to talk to her so when the group stopped in front of Maxville Galleria Mall, Layla asked the others if she could speak with Lia for a few minutes.

"We'll meet you at the fountain in half an hour?" Will asked the two and they nodded. The three headed off to the food court while Lia and Layla walked around.

"So what did you want to speak to me about?" inquired Lia as the two walked along.

Layla looked as if she was contemplating on her words before saying, "Have you seen Warren lately?"

Lia took a short glance at her before looking ahead to where they were walking; did she know about what happened?

"Yeah, I saw him on Saturday," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh," Layla said quickly. "I just thought maybe…since you're close friends again, that you'd know what was bothering him. He just hasn't been himself lately and I don't know why."

Lia gulped, could Warren be acting that way because of what she said to him? The butterflies in her stomach rose at the thought but her sensible side told her with conviction that she had no connection to his behavior whatsoever.

"Umm…No…I don't know either," Lia replied softly and Layla sighed.

"Oh well, maybe he'll be back to his usual self soon…I hope," she said and they kept walking, talking about other things and looking at the shops before going on to find their friends.

After Lia, Nate, and Alice said their goodbyes to Will and Layla they headed off to the amusement park after getting Lia's car. There they met up with their other friends and had a blast on the many different rides and even more junk food. They only left when the park was about to close and even then they were still on sugar high so the trek to Alice's was quite loud. Thankfully Alice's parent's were away for a business trip until the weekend so they had a little party at her house, ending when they all pretty much fell asleep in the living room while they watched old reruns of Grey's Anatomy.

* * *

***Earlier that day***

Warren turned off his engine after parking on one of the side streets, and walked up to the building named 'Maxville Security Services Ltd.' Passing through a checkpoint with a full body scanner and his ID, he entered the elevator which led him up to the real Maxville Hero Centre. The receptionist at the front desk greeted him with a smile and he gave her a curt nod in response. Walking to the right wing of the floor, he waited by the couches in front of the big TV screen, just beside the offices where the new heroes were currently residing. After their first years, they would either stay in Maxville or choose to move somewhere else, and when they stay they were given permanent offices like the one Warren had.

He didn't have to wait long before Will and Layla came in and spotted him in an instant.

"Are they alright?" he asked, and the two nodded, knowing that 'they' meant Lia in particular.

Warren sat back down and put his head in his hands for a moment, before looking at his two friends.

"You think it was Grey too don't you?" Will asked as he and Layla sat on the opposite couch, referring to their speculation that Lia becoming a hostage in a bank heist was too much of a coincidence to be ignored, especially since she was top target for Dr. Grey.

"It's hard to be doubtful of that," he said gruffly as he indicated the news report on television, which was a rerun of the previous coverage on the bank hostage situation. "News anchor said it herself, it's the fastest recorded response time for a distress call. It's possible Grey was just testing out the waters."

Layla nodded seriously, "The robbers did seem as if they knew they were going to be caught…probably were paid in advanced."

"Derek saved her from being stabbed," Will stated as he looked concernedly at his friend, who was still looking at the screen unmoving.

"He's a good agent," he stated, and the three fell silent. Layla was still calculating Warren's face and couldn't determine the exact reason why he looked so different to her. Trying to get it out of Lia didn't work out too well, so she had to pry it out of Warren himself.

When Will was called in to help his parents in Capital City, Layla followed Warren up to his office to have some drinks and she took it as her opportunity for interrogation.

She sat down on the couch across from him as he drank some coffee, and some tea for her.

"You look different," Layla simply stated and Warren looked at her. "What happened?"

So she did notice, Warren thought, Layla has been able to read him well since high school, especially during the time when she sort of forced him to break up with Freeze Girl- which was actually the best advice he'd ever gotten from Layla.

He sighed and leaned back on his seat, flexing his arms and staring out the window with the bright city lights twinkling back at him.

"It's Lia isn't it?" Layla pressed on, refusing to give up.

He nodded in reply, "I kissed her," he added simply and to his surprise she smiled at him.

"Good," said Layla.

"And then she left."

Layla's mouth formed an 'O' as she could only stare at him. He then told her in short what had happened when he tried to talk to Lia on Saturday. Layla shook her head.

She then took a sip of her tea, "Well obviously she felt that being involved with you would compromise your rekindled friendship," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Either that or she felt that you might have kissed her on an impulse."

"Of course I didn't," Warren replied abruptly, and Layla noted his offended tone and smiled.

"I know that," she reassured him. "But we don't know if she does."

Layla stood up since she had to leave for an appointment and she patted Warren on his shoulder as she turned to the door.

"I know that you're a very introverted person and absolutely _hate _talking about your feelings with us, but can I give you one advice?" she asked, still smiling.

"Why not," Warren shrugged.

"Talk to Lia, tell her how you feel. You might be introverted but Lia was always an exception wasn't she?" Layla said playfully and she knew it worked by the way Warren looked at her, almost as if he was accusing her of being too insightful.

As Layla closed the door behind her, Warren wondered whether her advice could possibly be as good as her take on Freeze Girl.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Ta da! There's another chapp for you guys! It was supposed to be longer but I cut it in half and put the last half in the upcoming chapter. For those of you in slight agony that the two haven't gotten together yet, I promise it will be soon. I received a suggestion from**_**miserlou**_**and omg, that sounded great, and I didn't even think of that when I wrote his office description ;P Anyways, I'm still contemplating on the setting for that particular moment but thanks a million. If I don't use that setting for the big moment I might have to use it for the next ones. LOL**

**So, I'm still open for suggestions and it would be totally awesome if I get feedback from you guys :D I just love getting reviews.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming out soon!**

**Chapter Song: Faster by Plain White T's**


	10. Halflife

**Chapter 9**

**Before the truth goes back into hiding**

**I****want to decide 'cause it's worth deciding**

**To work on finding something more than this fear**

**It takes so much out of me to pretend**

**Tell me now, tell me how to make amends**

Lia was alone for the afternoon since Alice and Nate were out on a date. They had refused to leave her at first but she reassured them that she would be fine. She stayed at Alice's house, flipping through the channels on television while she munched on some popcorn. She ended up tuning in to a channel showing documentaries about superheroes and to her surprise saw a few people she knew.

In The first 15 minutes she watched as Superman took the stage, showing his achievements and the creation of the Justice League. Other Justice League heroes followed, and then the focus turned to the International Association of Superheroes, the largest organized group of supers operating within almost every nation in the world. An hour after the documentary started Lia watched with interest as her own grandfather was shown.

"Known to the world as the Chemist, one of very few supers of the 70s to have the power over chemical reactions, he was most famous for the creation of the substance called TX100. This substance ensures that people who have been exposed to toxic waste will be able to undergo DNA mutation without the risk of toxic death. The Chemist's creation is still widely used today, and has helped thousands of people around the world."

The narrator finished talking, and showed a video of the Chemist in his lab coat presenting his creation to a group of scientists. Lia smiled at this, she missed her grandfather; he has been travelling around the world since her grandmother died 5 years ago. The Chemist was retired and now only goes by the name Doctor Walter Greene.

The documentary shifted and turned to other supers, while Lia kept watch and finished off her popcorn. Looking at the heroes made her slightly anxious to become an official one, especially since she had no idea how she was going to fulfill the expectations already made of her by so many others. She was the granddaughter of the Chemist, she inherited her powers from her grandparents on her dad's side who were also great heroes, her brother was famous in New York, and her parents are brilliant scientists- she was proud of her heritage, but it was sure as hell going to be hard to live up to their names.

Lia remembered feeling the same way when she first started Sky High, and now that she was so close to leaving the school, her thoughts have reverberated back to it. Oh how she wished she was back as a freshman.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

_"Tell me why I can't ride in the same bus as you," Mia complained as she waited at the bus stop with Warren, his bus stop was about a block away but he waited with Mia for hers, which came earlier than the rest._

_"It's called a freshmen bus for a reason," Warren replied simply, leaning against the stop sign._

_Mia sighed and crossed her arms, "I hope it's not too bad."_

_Warren watched the approaching yellow bus and said, "You'll be fine."_

_Mia got on the bus when it came and waved goodbye to Warren, ready for her first ride to Sky High. The bus driver was Ron Wilson, who was always eager to take on the freshmen bus as his cover job; he looked at Warren standing at the bus stop and waved at him along with Mia. The two looked like kids as they waved at Warren and he shook his head at them and walked away. Mia only smiled at his actions and took her seat in the middle of the bus. She screamed with the rest of the freshmen when the bus dove off the broken bridge and turned to a flying rolling coaster. She went ahead with her new friends to Power Placement, where she saw the others' powers as Coach Boomer called them up one by one. Lunch came and Mia was still waiting to be sorted so she went off to the cafeteria with her friend Nate from middle school._

_"Hey, look, it's my brother over there, wanna go and say hi?" Nate asked Mia as he pointed over to a table to their left. Mia looked and saw Zack and his friends sitting and Warren with them as he ate a sub sandwich. She smiled._

_"Let's go."_

_The two along with their new friends carried their trays over to the adjacent table beside Zack and his friends who welcomed them nicely._

_Introductions were made and Mia ended up sitting beside Warren, who just finished his sub and was now drinking from a coke bottle._

_"How was power placement?' he asked._

_Mia grinned, "Well I still haven't gone up yet, but Nate made Hero." She took out her packet of MnM's and popped one in her mouth as Nate told them of other freshmen's powers, especially a girl who had super senses and could hear him whisper to Mia during placement._

_Mia sorted out her red MnM's and gave them to Warren, who took and ate them nonchalantly, not noticing a few eyes that drifted over to them during this exchange. Layla smiled at Mia._

_"It's so nice to finally have you in our school," Layla said to her. "I'm sure you'll have a really good time in here."_

_"Thanks Layla," Mia replied and gave her a smile._

_They all kept their light-hearted conversation complete with advice for the freshmen on how to survive their first few days in school, and when the bell rang Mia and her friends headed back to the gym. Warren walked alongside Mia until the cafeteria doors._

_"When you make hero, don't let it get to your head," came his advice and he gave her a small reassuring smile before walking in the direction of the stairwell._

_Mia only laughed and called after him, "Of course not, you know me!"_

_Finally she was called on to demonstrate her powers and Coach Boomer looked at her file._

_"You're Andrew's little sister?" he asked and she nodded. "You don't have the same powers do you?"_

_"Not exactly," Mia replied, her brother produces shockwaves, just like their mother. However she got her father's powers to create force fields, although it wasn't exactly the same; her dad could only create force fields as a shield around himself, but she could extend hers for long distances like her mom's and Andrew's shockwaves. Her dad always called it her 'force field Frisbees' jokingly._

_She explained this to Coach Boomer shortly and he nodded as he pushed a button and about 10 darts sped towards her. Holding her hands out in front of her she produced her blue force field and had it charge the darts, which all disintegrated after they were hit._

_"Hero!" Boomer announced as he checked off her name with a flourish._

_Mia smiled but she felt strange on the inside, as if being made a hero was finalized, and she would have to go through the grueling stages of superheroism without a choice._

_On the second day of school, Mia and Nate were walking towards the gym to witness a Save the Citizen game when they were stopped by a tall guy wearing stripes. They recognized him as Lash the school bully, who was released from jail along with Speed just after the Royal Pain fiasco due in part to really good lawyers. They were still the school's resident bullies and Mia couldn't help but think that she had some rotten luck running into him…or maybe it was Nate._

_"Well, well," Lash taunted as he looked at the two who were just staring up at him. "If it isn't some freshmen off to watch a game."_

_Lia composed herself and stared at Lash hard, "Yeah, we are, so you can move along and let us pass, that would be great."_

_"And what if I don't?" He leaned down to look at her eye to eye. "You're a hero aren't you? Andrew's little sister? Why don't you show me that awesome power of yours?"_

_Nate looked at him bravely, "We're not allowed to use our powers outside the gym."_

_"A rule that you're probably oblivious to," Mia muttered and Lash laughed at the two._

_All of a sudden they heard a 'whoosh' and a yelp from Nate as he was stuffed in a locker in less than 2 seconds thanks to Speed. He gave a high-five to Lash before he zoomed off down the hall to obviously terrify another kid. Mia rushed to the locker and tried to open it but it was locked. Turning to Lash angrily she yelled at him._

_"You jerk! Let him out of there!"_

_Lash smirked, "Or else what?"_

_Mia didn't know what made her do it but she suddenly felt her arm raise and her fist connected with Lash's jaw. He staggered back and angrily looked at the short freshman in front of him, how could she have thrown such a strong punch? He felt blood inside his mouth but he ignored it as he pushed Mia back against the lockers and gripped her arms hard. She looked a little bit surprised at what she did and surprise turned to a look of fear as she saw Lash's murderous expression._

_"You're pretty strong aren't you Landall?" he said threateningly. "Usually I don't hurt little girls like yourself but I'll make an exception just for you."_

_"You know what rubber boy?" she winced but still managed to send him a glare. "You're a bastard and you know it."_

_The grip on her arms was hurting and Mia aimed a kick at his gonads, which she succeeded on doing. Lash staggered back for the second time holding his crotch and looked as if he was contemplating on attacking her again when a fireball was hurled at him from a few feet away._

_Warren Peace grabbed hold of his shirt and pushed him against the locker._

_"Stay away from her," he growled and let him go, Lash looked at Mia slightly afraid and walked away, brushing himself off._

_Mia rubbed her sore arms and Warren asked her if she was alright._

_"I'm fine thanks," she said, and walked towards the locker that Nate was in. "How do you open this damn locker?"_

_Warren used his strength to pull the lock out and Nate emerged, sweating. "Whew," he said. "Thanks man, I was getting claustrophobic there. Nice punch by the way Millie," he added to Mia who smiled slightly._

_Warren walked alongside Mia as they all headed for the gym, "Let me see your fist," he said and Mia gave him her hand for inspection._

_Warren looked at it with a crease on his forehead, a surefire sign that he wasn't happy about her punching Lash. But there was nothing physically wrong with her hand, so Mia shrugged._

_"It felt good punching him actually," she said nonchalantly. "Just don't tell anyone else."_

_Warren shook his head and let go of her hand, muttering about how rash she was and what her parents would say if they found out she was fighting bullies at school._

_But for the first time in two days Mia felt as if she could actually go through all the hero stuff through her newfound bravery. She felt happier and patted Warren on the back to reassure him that everything was all good._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

_This must be how it feels like to grow up_, Lia thought. First it was problems with her love life and now her career. She then remembered something that her grandfather told her when her grandmother died.

_"It's not that superheroes are always reckless, but we to some degree have to take those risks often," he had said to his granddaughter as they sat on a park bench after her grandmother's funeral. "Your grandmother always said that we were built for risk-taking, being super heroes and all. Sometimes it doesn't pay off, sometimes it does. But what we do get out of it is not only our accomplishments, but also the knowledge that we had the courage to take on something we thought to be impossible…even if it doesn't work out."_

_He smiled at his granddaughter who looked confused at first, but then smiled and hugged him._

Lia wanted to take that risk, the risk of becoming a hero with a possibility of her failing. When the documentary she was watching ended, she got up from her seat and went up the stairs, where she found her acceptance letter to the IAS sitting in her suitcase. She hadn't responded to their offer yet, since she was deciding whether to join other teams that have made an offer to her as well. What was significant about that particular one was that the IAS offered her a permanent position in International Affairs, which meant that she wouldn't need a trial run in Maxville for her first year like other first-year supers; she would go on ahead to take various missions from around the country and some around the world.

Picking up her phone she dialed the number of the IAS headquarters located somewhere in the Sub-Saharan Desert to accept her offer and take on the risk that may possibly be worth-while, at least according to her grandfather.

After a great long conversation with one of the officials in the headquarters, Lia put the phone down with a smile and heard voices downstairs.

Taking the risk in her career was a small sigh of relief, and now that she was on a roll she made up her mind about her next risk.

She would have to face Warren.

* * *

Walking around the places where she could possibly be was harder than he thought. Warren started at the ice cream shop, but he only saw that guy Ian inside. He went to the mall, the Paper Lantern, the park, the beach, but to no avail. In the end he went to his office, watched as the skies turned orange-red, and proceeded to go home.

Talking to Lia about his feelings was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

Alice squealed with delight when Lia told her and Nate that she planned on going over to Warren's to talk to him. The three had dinner- pizza and some chicken wings ordered in- and planned out Lia's short trip. She had her teleporter that she got as a present from Andrew for her birthday and Nate happened to know which building Warren lived in since Zack had stopped by there when dropping off Nate at the doctor's a few weeks ago.

They were all in their pajamas as they tried out the teleporter, first to the bathroom downstairs and then back to Alice's room. Finally Lia was resolved on going and typed the address on the keypad; she pressed the button and felt herself spiral out of the room.

She realized then that she had forgotten her shoes. Damn.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! This chapter was pretty short and is just pretty much a filler chapter. It'll be sort of like a transitional chapter in terms of Lia's life after school (I'm not planning on ending this story at her graduation *wink wink* lol)**

**Anywhoos, I know it's been a while since the last update but I hope to get more out this summer. So a big thanks to all my readers old and new for still keeping up with this story.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chap and don't forget to REVIEWW cause I love them :D**

**Chapter Song: Half-Life by Duncan Sheik**


	11. When I'm With You

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or any of its characters :)**_

**Chapter 10**

**When I kiss you, I still get butterflies **

**Years from now, I'll make every second count**

Lia walked up to the condominium building and luckily, a man was about to leave. Glancing down at her feet curiously, he held the door open for Lia, as he thought to himself that she most likely wasn't a bum off the streets. The journey up in the elevator was a tense moment; LIa had no idea what she was going to say and how to say it to Warren.

She stood in front of the door, 128, and contemplated on whether to continue or not. He was inside, and Lia didn't think she could face him... Not yet at least. A few minutes later she still stood where she was before, but taking a deep breath, she found herself knocking on the door.

"Just a minute," the deep voice Lia was so scared of at the moment replied and she was tempted to run away before he could open the door, somehow though her feet decided to stick to the floor.

The door opened, and Warren emerged, looking surprised at his guest, standing with her mouth opened slightly as if about to speak, but didn't. He wore a white wifebeater and jeans, and he took notice of Lia's simple shirt and pajama pants complete with rainbow socks and no shoes.

"Mia, what are you doing here?" he asked, still surprised.

Lia twisted her hands in nervousness, "I umm... wanted to talk to you."

_She talks! _The voices inside her head were urging her to go on. Lia tried to compose herself and took a deep breath.

"Okay, come in then."

Lia stepped inside his apartment for the first time and noted its simple decoration; a black leather couch with a matching table, bookshelves lined the white walls and the kitchen was visible from the entrance hallway where Lia stood.

Warren closed the door behind him and Lia turned around.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he asked politely and Lia shook her head no. "No? Water it is then."

Lia smiled back at him as he went into the kitchen, and emerged moments later with a glass of water, which Lia accepted with her thanks. She drank some of it, hoping that it would cure her of her nerves while Warren stood still in front of her, speculating.

"So why are you in your pajamas?" he curiously asked.

"I was at Alice's," Lia finally replied. "I used a teleporter to get here."

Warren nodded, "I see..." No wonder he hasn't been able to find her all day.

"Look," Lia said hastily. "'Just tell me if I'm bothering you and I'll leave, no problem."

Warren shook his head no, "Well you said you had to tell me something, so I'm here to listen."

Lia nodded, "Right," and she fell quiet, looking at the glass of water in her hands.

"Come and sit," Warren said to her. "You look pale."

He started walking towards the couch but Lia was motionless.

"Do you really want to forget what happened to us last Friday?" she finally blurted out.

Warren turned to look at her intently, a blazing look in his eyes, "You were the one who suggested it," he said simply.

"I know," Lia replied quietly. "But I want to know how you feel."

Warren ran a hand through his hair, and looked as if he was angered by something, or someone.

"You want to know how I feel?" he asked incredulously. "I feel like crap that's how I feel," he started to walk towards her. "First I felt like karma bit me on the ass when I saw you again after two years, then great because we were friends again. And now I feel like crap because you want us to forget that we ever kissed."

Lia just looked at him, speechless, and he went on.

"And now you're here asking me this?" he continued. " I should be the one asking you how you feel Mia, because you're driving me insane here."

"I'm sorry if you feel that way Warren," Lia replied hastily. "I'm as confused as you are, and I really don't want to be."

Warren sighed impatiently, and walked towards the couch to sit, Lia moved forward ever so slightly, still holding her glass of water.

This wasn't how he pictured his conversation with Lia would be, he expected to be more calm and collected, certainly not the way he was acting right then. He wanted to just tell her that he loved her, but Lia's face showed a look of uncertainty and guilt. She came to find him, and he did the same today, but the lack of understanding between the two was making Warren edgy.

Lia saw Warren give an impatient sigh as he held his head in his hands and then looked up at her.

"You said we should forget whatever happened last Friday, and of course I respect your wishes," he said quietly avoiding Lia's eyes. "But yet you're here..."

"Warren..." Lia started but he cut her off.

"I don't want to forget about it," he said simply, still avoiding her eyes. There he said it, and it was the truth. A heavy block in his chest was lifted as he said the words but he still couldn't manage to pull his eyes away from his coffee table to look at her.

Silence, and then,

"I don't want to forget that you kissed me either," Lia breathed out- another block lifted off Warren's chest. "But I was scared that it meant differently for you as it did for me… I was scared that it was just an impulse on your part."

Warren finally looked up at her, strangely enough it was exactly the same thing Layla said to him, "No," he said. "I wanted to kiss you, and I would do it again if I could. "

"That's all I wanted to hear," Lia smiled at him, and Warren felt something stir inside him.

"Is that all you came here for?" he asked, standing up with a hint of a smile on his face.

"No, actually, I had to tell you something else," she continued conversationally and took a sip of her water. "Since we're being honest to each other and everything..."

"Yes?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking down at her since she was about 5 inches shorter than he was and she was wearing only her socks.

"I lied to you," Lia replied.

Warren was silent but he walked a few steps towards her anyways.

Lia continued, gripping her water glass hard in nervousness, "When you asked me why I chose to stalk you back then, it wasn't just because you were someone I thought would understand. And the reason why I was devastated when you left was because..." taking a breath she finally said,

"I didn't just have a crush on you back then. And I definitely have more than a crush on you now."

Warren strode forward, and grabbing her shoulders swiftly, kissed her in reply. In his quick motion Lia dropped the glass she was holding and the glass made a soft thud on the carpet, spilling its contents as well. But the two didn't care; it was as if they had years worth of tension building up between them that had to be released at that moment through the wonderful art of kissing.

Weaving her fingers into his hair, Lia felt the butterflies in her stomach-the ones that had been there sitting quietly for years- quiver in excitement as his hot breath tickled her on the insides. It wasn't like the kiss they shared at the coffee shop, the one she thought was an impulsive and uncertain kiss, no, this was way- for a lack of better word- _hotter_. She felt his warm arms wrap around her and hoisted her up slightly so they were eye-level. The two looked at each other and Lia smiled at Warren.

"I love you," Warren finally said, much to Lia's glowing smile. She gave him a small kiss and Warren breathed in her scent before she replied.

"And you know that I've always loved you."

Those words gave Warren such a sense of euphoria that his lips found their way back to Lia's. He pinned her up against his bedroom doorframe as he continued his trail of kisses down the side of her mouth, to her chin, and to her neck, where he smelled her scent of daisies and wild flowers. Lia emitted a soft moan at his touch, with nothing on her mind but the way his warmth was making its way down her thighs and her toes, and wanting more of him right then.

Somewhere in the back of Warren's head he was thinking about this particular relationship, and how he just realized that Lia was in fact, his student. But never mind that, he didn't care to question that thought out loud. When the overpowering need in him was fulfilled he would delve into that problem but not at that moment. The time was theirs to indulge in and both intended to make use of that time to a point of exhaustion.

Holding on to him tightly, Lia explored his mouth with her own with much enthusiasm, her tongue moving slowly against his felt wonderful and she didn't know if she would be able to let go. She emitted a moan once again when she felt his warm hands move their way past under her shirt and caress her bare back, then her stomach. The two pulled apart slightly for air and when Lia looked at Warren's eyes, his question was so evident that the butterflies still inside her screamed in approval.

She crashed her lips onto his as a reply and with every movement of her lips, Warren took a step towards the welcoming bed, still carrying her. When they both reached their destination, Warren dropped Lia gently on the bed, and slowly and carefully pulled her shirt off, the rest followed. Lia had wanted to rip his shirt off from the very beginning so when her opportunity came, she gripped the white garment and pulled it up the length of his torso. His skin was like a warm blanket during a snowy day and Lia reveled in his warmth for the umpteenth time that day. His jeans seemed to glide off of him like silk, but maybe that was just the intoxication of finally being in that moment.

It was really happening.

As Warren took in Lia's beauty she smiled back at him, and he caressed her face with such affection. The two didn't need to speak their words out loud; they knew each other well enough to know what the other was thinking at that moment, and both of them were definitely thinking to get on with the show.

Never in her life did she feel as much pleasure as she did when he slid himself gently inside her, never did she feel much ecstasy, as their bodies molded together in a perfect fit. Pulling his head towards her she found his awaiting lips ready for hers, and every movement of theirs sent her over the edge, never wanting to go back.

It was their first time together, but not their first time altogether; Warren's first had been in high school with his girlfriend then and even that couldn't compare to what he was feeling right at that moment. The same could be said about Lia, who, after having sex with Matt the previous year and breaking up a few months after that, could say that being with Warren was probably one of the greatest things that has ever happened to her.

The force between the two grew as wave after wave of pure pleasure washed over them for a long time. Reaching their high points one after the other, the two collapsed down on the tangled sheets in pure joy and relaxation. Warren brushed Lia's hair out of her eyes, her glistening sweat gave her face a radiance that completely boggled his mind.

She was the one, and she was right there in his arms, looking at him happily and as he watched her eyes droop in exhaustion, he gave her a small kiss.

"I love you Mia," he breathed out softly as he watched her fall asleep.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N. There you have it, the big one :) So the two finally get together, making me change the rating up a bit, but sadly I'm not a very good love scene writer lol. So tell me what you thought of this one and how the story is coming along. I've got a bit more coming at Lia's and Warren's faces so stay tuned for that.**

**Remember to review! I love getting notifications in the mail and thanks to the reviewers because they remind me to update when I start to forget hahaha :)**

**Chapter Song: When I'm With You by Faber Drive**


	12. Lifeboats

**Chapter 11**

**Flashed up in my wildest dreams**

**The dark red blood streams**

**Stretching out like vast cracked ice**

The end of their spring break brought great sadness to the students, because even though most of them didn't get the break they expected, they got more. The friends who were supposed to go to Florida lost their disappointment when they instead went to the beach in a neighbouring state and went camping afterwards. The weather was perfect in their side of the country, unlike the horrible and unexpected hurricane season in Florida.

Lia went with her friends for that particular trip, and came back to spend her much needed time with none other than Warren himself. The two, if possible, got even closer with each other after their first night together and their friends definitely noticed. The two discussed their current predicament one night during their break:

"Well your friends know, and my two best friends know, but technically _this _is not allowed," Lia gestured to herself and him as she tried to make a point.

Warren's arm was around her shoulders as they were watching a movie and he gave a slight chuckle.

"Even if I'm only a substitute teacher?" he joked and Lia poked him on the sides.

"Well, it does feel a little _risqué _I must say," Lia laughed. "But if others find out, they might just call me a heinous slut."

"Hmmm," he replied as he brushed his lips against her neck. "Then we'll have to make sure we keep our little secret, although we certainly fail at keeping secrets from our friends."

"You can say that again," Lia muttered but smiled nonetheless.

So far no one knew about their relationship except for those who tried to instigate it in the first place. Alice and Nate were ecstatic from day one, and have wasted no opportunity in commenting and joking about Lia and gave her warnings not to have a hot and dirty love-making session in the classroom, which of course resulted in a serious back flip for Nate and a smack on the arm for Alice.

Meanwhile, the two tried to pay attention to their movie, but it was boring enough to let their minds wander somewhere else. Taking his hand, Lia traced small circles on his palm and absentmindedly moved her fingers to touch the fire tattoos on his arm.

"You're so hot," Lia blurted out, then realized what she just said and laughed. "I mean literally, and figuratively now that I think about it," she added quickly.

Warren took her hand and squeezed it, "Tell me if I'm too hot and I promise to cool down a bit," he said with a knowing smile on his face.

Lia exploded with laughter and Warren joined in, and after stood up and pulled her into the kitchen. Lia noticed a black garment bag on the kitchen counter and stared at it.

"What's that?" she asked curiously and Warren turned to open it.

"It's something I figured you'd want for our date."

The zipper was opened and inside was the most beautiful Poison Ivy costume she'd ever seen. She gasped in surprise and turned to Warren.

"You mean-?" she couldn't believe it, could he really be taking her to-

Warren nodded, "I was reminded by a friend that Boston was hosting it this year, and it runs all through today."

"No way!" Lia exclaimed as she took the costume. "And you're going as who? Batman?" When Warren nodded Lia squealed in delight.

"So this means you're going?" he asked uncertainly at first.

"A Comic Hero Convention for our date? Hell yes!" she said as she grinned up at him. "I haven't gone since I was 14!"

She didn't mention the fact that she never went after that because she always went with Warren in the past and when they stopped being friends, she chose to forego the event.

The two used a teleporter to get to Boston, and donning their costumes, they entered the convention. They were immediately met by hundreds of people in superhero and villain attires, and Lia smiled. The comic hero convention was nothing like the hero convention her parents were in that week; they were in some boring conference meeting at that moment and Lia on the other hand, was fitting in quite nicely with the rest of the costumed people in their teenaged years and older. Warren was tugging on his Batman suit and complained that it was very confining, and Lia retorted that if he could stand wearing his real costume for long periods of time, he can handle the one he was wearing then.

"My costume is nothing like this," he informed Lia and she just rolled her eyes in reply. She pointed at a 13 year old boy wearing a Flare costume and laughed, while she dragged Warren to follow the kid.

Turned out there was a contest for the best Flare costume, and the couple had fun watching it, until one of the costumed guys sent his bag on fire in attempt to copy Flare's power. The contest then was ended, and instead of kicking the guy out, he won by popular vote, and it definitely made up for his burnt bag.

The two stayed until the convention ended, after they had dinner in the restaurant where the waiters and waitresses were dressed up Justice League members. They never ran out of anything to talk about, and the couple enjoyed themselves, concluding their date in high spirits. They went back to Maxville and after a long kiss goodnight, Warren dropped Lia off Alice's.

* * *

School started again, and composing their faces as they saw each other, Warren and Lia put their acting skills to the test. The two treated each other as normal as can be, and no one suspected a thing.

Lia's parents came back from their conference the day school started, after an unplanned one day visit to New York, to see Andrew and his fiancé. Her parents managed to convince the two to take a visit to Maxville to start off their wedding preparations which was to happen there.

When they all got back home a dinner party was hosted with some of their superhero friends. They started the guest list and also listed all official wedding participants. Lia and Alice got what they wished for and were now bridesmaids, along with Nate who was picked to be a groomsman. The rest were a lot of Andrew's and Julie's friends and colleagues, and with a lot of pleas from Lia and Alice, Warren agreed to be a groomsman after he was asked by Andrew. The wedding was set for late June, so they had at least 3 months to prepare for everything.

"So what do you think would be a good wedding gift for them?" Lia asked conversationally as she sat beside Warren at the dinner table.

"Hmm... How about a nice kitchen set?" he replied almost clueless.

Lia nodded, "Ahhh, the classic gift. We should ask them if they want to register. I could do it if they'd like!" she said with a huge smile.

"Mia I don't think-" Warren started but Lia cut him off as she asked Andrew and Julie beside them.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Julie replied. "Since we have to leave early, it would be wonderful if you could do it. I'm sure we can trust your taste!" she said happily and the two girls continued their talk about things they can register for.

Warren sighed, he knew it could only lead to a daylong of registering and then shopping afterwards for Lia.

2 days later and his suspicions were correct; he was standing beside her at a home supply store where they chose to register. Taking a second tagging gun, he followed Lia around the store and tagging stuff at random.

"Mia seriously, I think your brother and Julie would be fine with just a coffeemaker and plates, no need for fancy coffeegrinders," he said pointing at an antique looking coffee grinder to the side.

Lia shook her head, "Okay maybe not that one specifically, but we're trying to get a theme across here, the house they bought is sooo...modern, we have to find things that match," she finished sounding so professional.

Warren couldn't wait until it was over frankly.

* * *

"Some of you have been waiting for this since the beginning of high school, so I won't keep you from it any longer," Warren said to his class as he walked around the gym. "You all predesigned and ordered it before the Christmas holidays, and they delivered it recently for you to finally try on."

The seniors were excited to see what was inside the many individually wrapped packages placed on the bleachers. They were their senior projects, along with the names they have chosen for themselves to lead them on to graduation day.

Warren picked up the package closest to him, and started reading out names.

"After you all receive your new uniforms, we will have a short presentation with all your new names after you quick-change into them."

Lia took her package from Warren's hands and gave him a smile, before she turned away to open the package and looked at her uniform. An intricate design of a concave force field in gold was on the chest of her uniform, which was a black off shoulder long sleeved top with a black fitted skirt lined with gold, with black boots that reached just below her knees. Like some of the other's costumes, it wasn't made with spandex but rather a sturdy material that was a cross between silk and leather. It was light as air and not too tight, and soft to the touch. Lia held it up and grinned at it. A gold band for around the forearm was wrapped around the left sleeve and carved into the band was the name _…_

* * *

As she walked home after stopping by the ice cream shop, Lia was texting Warren about the store's updates for the wedding registry and so she initially did not notice how empty and quiet the street was. She always felt as if someone was following her but surprisingly enough, that feeling went away after stepping out of the store. Lia should have been glad that the feeling was gone, but for the past few weeks she grew accustomed to it, almost to the point of being comfortable being followed around, strangely enough. She closed her phone and started to walk a little faster, and quickly passed by two-storey buildings that also seemed a little quiet and eerie.

Clutching her purse closely, she looked around but saw nothing. She passed through a small side alleyway, scanned the area in the process and detecting nothing suspicious, sighed in relief.

Her sigh however, didn't quite escape her mouth as a force knocked her out of breath and sent her flying against the alleyway's brick walls.

Lia got up with slight difficulty, touching her head swiftly and feeling blood. She ignored her injury and poised for attack, the phone rang shrilly in her purse on the ground but she ignored it when her attacker finally emerged from the corner of the building.

He looked as if he belonged in a scary movie, someone Lia would see in her wildest nightmares- the one who would be carrying around a big weapon and managing to kill everyone near him. An acid green skull and crossbones was tattooed on his shaved head and many more tattoos covered his skin. He couldn't be more than 25 years of age, and wearing his dark clothes, he looked just like the axe-murderer in Lia's dreams.

As he came out, Lia extended a force field towards him and he counterattacked by throwing dozens of knife blades, all headed straight for her.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N. First of all, thank you to my wonderful readers and reviewers for keeping up with this story. Secondly, sorry for the long wait, it's been almost a whole summer since I've updated but I've been on vacation for a while and since school starts for me on Sep. 13th, it's hard to say when I'll be able to update. Thanks for the patience in advanced :)**

**Third, you may have noticed in this chapter that I chose to sidestep Lia's superhero name, simply because I have absolutely no idea what to call her (and I need one asap to continue) so I would love love love any suggestions from you guys, and think of it as my superhero name challenge :)**

**So review, think up any names, and I'll update as soon as I'm able (and oops, sorry for the cliffhanger :)**

**Chapter Song: Lifeboats by Snow Patrol**


	13. No Surprises

**Chapter 12**

**A job that slowly kills you **

**Bruises that won't heal**

**No alarms and no surprises**

Warren got off the phone with Lia and drove on towards his office downtown. However, at the next stop light he reached his phone rang again and answered it to hear a familiar voice,

"Warren, it's Derek," he sounded pained. "Corner of Green and Harvey…" and the line went dead.

Warren stepped on the gas and drove quickly to Green and Harvey Street, which was incidentally quite close to where he was. He felt uncomfortable and panicked, because the only reason Derek would call was because…

He screeched to a halt at the intersection, which was almost empty except for one or two pedestrians. Warren ran towards the side alleys between buildings and searched for Derek, until he found him crumpled on the ground beside cardboard boxes, bleeding profusely. Warren cursed and ran to him, hoping that the emergency team he called moments before would arrive on time.

"Derek," Warren knelt down next to him and checked his injuries; a laser shot to the arm and upper torso. "Who did this? Where's Mia?"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I lost her, there were two of them, but one left after the other one shot me."

Warren tried hard to be calm, and thankfully the emergency team came, he looked back at Derek and patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"It's okay," he told him. "I'll find her, you'll be fine."

Derek was taken in by the medics and Warren ran to his car, hoping he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

The force field connected with the blades in a large hiss of energy, and both disintegrated with a bang. The attacker advanced, looking at Lia with a sneer on his face.

Lia wasn't swift enough for the next assault, and one of her sleeves was pinned against the wall by one of his blades. Ripping her arm off the wall quickly, she sent out even more force fields, while the villain dodged them and threw his own weapons against them. His knife blades, Lia noticed, were coming out of his arms, as if they magically appeared to his will. Something must have been in the blades because they were powerful enough to disintegrate the force fields, even though they broke in the process.

He advanced towards her, aiming a perfect kick which sent her staggering back, Lia composed herself and blocked another of his punches, while throwing one of her own which hit its mark. He doubled over in pain, and as she prepared to strike again, he expertly caught her arm and twisted it, making her wince in pain and tried to struggle free. In a mere second she felt something cold clipped on her wrist and all the energy in her disappeared at once. Trying to send out a force field, none came.

The villain let go of her hand and smirked as he threw her back against the wall once again. Her head felt like it was split in two as her insides screamed in agony. She saw the black band on her wrist and stared in horror as she realized that it was a neutralizing band; they had the same black bands in the detention room, when someone had to excuse themselves for the bathroom and the teachers suspected them of using their powers once they left the white room.

She was powerless, and as he walked towards her, she felt a slight fear creeping up, but her anger overcame that feeling soon enough and she tried to get up.

He must have been running low on his blades however, since he did not produce anymore, and taking advantage of Lia's nullification, he managed to keep her still even with all her attempts to fight back.

Grabbing her throat he lifted her up and she gagged against his grip.

"Seems too easy," the villain sneered at her. "When they gave me this mission I thought I was going to have to put up a bit of a fight, but this was like fighting a little kid."

He dropped her and Lia crumpled to the ground again fighting for breath while her villain continued on with his speech. Lia then noticed a rusty knife beside the trash next to her, and remembering evasive technique classes, she swiftly snatched the blade without the villain noticing.

"Oh how rude of me, I completely forgot to introduce myself," he said as he glanced down at Lia, who acted as if she had no more energy in getting up herself. "I am Toxic, and if the blades confused your little mind, let me explain: I generate these blades from within, and they have a little special something laced with the metal."

Toxic laughed as he said it, and while he was too preoccupied laughing, Lia took her chance and jumped up quickly, punching him on the face and stabbing his stomach with the rusty knife. Only he moved out of the way in the last minute and the knife hit his forearm instead. He screamed in anger and agony, and fought back against Lia, who was quite good at physical combat. Toxic was getting tired of her fighting back, and he had a deadline to meet in dealing with her. Taking out his taser gun from an inside pocket, he jabbed it against Lia's stomach the moment she dodged his previous attack.

For the third time, Lia found herself against the ground, and in his anger Toxic stepped on her arm with much force that a resounding crack was heard, just before she screamed in pain.

"You stab me, I break your arm," he spat out angrily.

On his last word a fireball was hurled at him and sent him flying against the wall, but Toxic recovered quickly, and glancing at his new opponent, he sent blade after blade at him as the hero took a defensive stance.

Toxic made his way over to Lia quickly, picked her up, and he held her in front of him as a hostage so the hero wouldn't fight back.

Lia was suddenly reminded of the hostage situation in the bank where she had a gun against her head, but this time, instead of the cold metal pressed against her temples, she felt searing pain from the cold flat metal pressed to her neck as it slowly cut off her flesh. She could feel blood on her throat and when Toxic took her broken arm and twisted it back, Lia shut her eyes to keep her tears in.

There was white hot pain as she felt her screaming joints pushed to the limit, and in the next seconds all she felt was numb. Eyes kept closed, she waited for the villain to push the blade deeper into her neck, squirting out her blood like she saw on Sweeney Todd a long time ago. Death was something she'd never thought about, but she expected to see her life flash before her eyes. All she could see however once she opened her eyes, was fire on the sides of the alleyway and Warren directly in front of her, a look of concentration and-was that fear?- on his face. He was dressed in hero attire; the first time Lia had ever seen Flare in person, which comforted her in the slightest bit. There was a ringing in her ears but the next moment she could hear Flare speak. Wasn't she dying she thought, why were her ears perfectly normal? She should be hearing and seeing her life before her eyes for goodness sake!

But she could hear his deep voice alright; he looked straight at Toxic in the eye and said, "Grey sent you? To kill all targets I presume?"

Toxic laughed, "Of course, I took on the leader's daughter for a high price, she put up a bit of a fight, but I'm almost done aren't I?" he smirked.

"But you needed another villain's help didn't you?" Flare continued, a reflection of fire in his dark eyes. "Her guard had to be taken care of so he wouldn't be in the way? What, you couldn't just do it yourself?"

Toxic glared at him, "I could have taken care of the guard but the less to do the better, I do have a due date before the next one."

Flare said nothing and Toxic continued on with his speech, "The thing is, I wouldn't have to do this if you just give back the files you took from Dr. Grey. He really is upset about you stealing his work, but hey, if it was me, I'd never do negotiations like he asked me, just keep targeting and the heroes will give in eventually. Pity about this one though, she's quite a sight," he smirked.

Lia locked eyes with Warren, and in an instant she knew what he was thinking; they both had to escape, and quickly. Toxic continued with his monologue, and Lia was beginning to feel lightheaded from blood loss.

"It's good that you're here though, you were number two on the list Flare, boss has been looking for you for a while, this is like killing two birds with one stone," Toxic said as he raised his right hand to make his point.

Without the tight grip on her arm, Lia acted quickly; elbowing him hard on the ribs, he accidentally dropped the blade he was holding against her neck. She then kneed him on the groin and he doubled over in pain, while Flare used the opportunity to send a fireball at him, which knocked him against the wall. Lia clutched her broken left arm and walked towards Flare, who immediately tried to stop the bleeding from her throat. Toxic was getting up slowly and when Flare noticed, he sent fireball after fireball at him, eventually encircling him in a cage of fire. Flare walked towards Toxic and that was when Lia noticed from her line of vision that he was taking out something from his wrist. It happened in an instant; Toxic threw his blade at Flare, who didn't notice because of the fire in his way, and Lia stepped forward, shielding him from the oncoming blade.

She felt the impact of the blade on her stomach, and felt herself stumbling backwards as Flare burst out in flames in anger and nearly roasted the villain in the process.

It was all a blur to Lia afterwards, she saw Toxic fall to the ground, with fire still surrounding him, then Will Stronghold flying over to hand him to the authorities. She could see Flare as he held her, fear and anger in his eyes as he tried to keep her from passing out.

It was as if something cold was spreading from her wounded stomach to her whole body, and Flare's body heat wasn't enough to warm her up.

"Cold..." she murmured but couldn't speak anymore.

She wanted to feel her power surge through her body, but the restraint was still clipped on to her wrist. She wanted to tell Warren, but she couldn't speak, the cold was too much.

"Stay awake for me Mia…please," he pleaded as he kept his grip on her hand.

Warren didn't dare try to remove the blade from her chest, for she could bleed out if he did, and waiting for the air ambulance was making him exceedingly anxious. Finally they came and she was lifted and carried away quickly, with Flare right beside her. The paramedics kept the blade in her stomach until they could get Lia to an operating table with a healer. Warren held Lia's hand the whole time, telling her to keep awake and that she would be okay soon enough.

He got his mother on the phone, and immediately told her what had happened. Ms. Peace was a surgical healer at Maxville Care for Superheroes Centre, and when at last Maxville hospital came into view and the helicopter landed on the roof, Warren spotted her waiting with her colleagues.

Lia's stretcher was lowered and wheeled to the elevator, rushing to the ER. Lia's head was spinning and she could barely stay awake, she was colder than ever, as if her lungs were submerged in ice cold waters. Warren kept telling her to stay awake but she didn't know if she could anymore.

"She has a power restraint," Ms Peace noted as she ran a scanner over Lia.

Warren didn't know she was restrained, and suddenly spotted a thin black band on her wrist, which was hidden by her long sleeve. The healer in front of him took out a cutting device and clipped off the restraint.

Lia felt like something was moving inside her and the pain became too much to handle so she succumbed to the darkness. The healers tried to get her blood pressure up before they took out the blade but they were suddenly knocked off by a force field coming from Lia herself. The knife in her stomach disappeared along with the force field, leaving behind a pool of blood which the healers tried to control quickly.

"Her heart rate is dropping."

Sara Peace, who was using her powers to stabilize Lia slowly, got up suddenly and looked at the others.

"There's poison inside her, I can't get all of it. It seems to have originated from her stomach wound, and it's spreading slowly," she said worried, holding on to Lia's arm and trying to feel where the poison is spreading so she can heal her. The bleeding had stopped, but her heart rate was still dropping and she needed oxygen to help her breathe.

Warren, who was still in shock after Lia's force field erupted, looked over, and felt his stomach drop. He felt responsible for her condition; Toxic's blade was aimed for him. The poison worried Warren, Lia had said she was cold when they were waiting for the air ambulance, and he knew it must have been released as the blade penetrated deep into her stomach. It must have been, because Warren was wounded by Toxic's blades but he didn't feel the poison spread, his scratches were still bleeding but he wasn't unconscious like Lia.

He kept watch on one side of the room as his mom and two other healers tried to deal with the poison. The other two healers only had painkilling powers, and Warren's mom was the only one who could cure large surgical wounds. Poison was out of their expertise, and Warren wasn't the only one worried. Sara Peace removed the poison that she could feel inside Lia, but there was more, only she couldn't feel it. Lia was immune to the pain thanks to the two healers but there was still no progress.

A commotion was heard just outside the ER room and in came Lia's parents with Will alongside them, all looking out of breath and panicked at seeing Lia unconscious.

Mrs. Landall had tears in her eyes as they stood beside her bed, and beside Warren, who looked worse for wear.

"You saved her life," Mr. Landall said to Warren who shook his head.

"She saved mine," he replied, as he stared at Lia's unconscious form.

Mr. Landall put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him that he was grateful to him for coming to Lia's rescue when she was attacked.

A beeping noise startled everyone and the code button was pushed as Lia flat lined.

Her parents were ushered out of the room, with Mrs. Landall sobbing and her husband trying to reassure her and himself that their daughter would be fine. Will followed them out but Warren refused to leave.

He watched as the crash cart was wheeled in beside Lia… as a healer pressed a button on the cart… as his mother grabbed the paddles… as she said the warning…

As Lia was shocked.

Once.

Twice...

"Clear."

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, but school and life in general have been hectic as usual. But as far as this story goes, I still have a few more chapters to go until the ending, and maybe I'll be able to finish in 2011. Hehe. Anyways, hope all you wonderful readers like this latest installment, and I'd like to extend a big and fluffy thank you to all who have reviewed and put this story on alert/faves list. The notifications I get in the mail remind me to work on this every time it slips my mind, so please leave your reviews whenever you can since they make my day :)**

**Until the next chapter! And hope you don't hate me for the evil cliffhanger :)**

**Chapter Song: No Surprises by Radiohead**


	14. Help is Round the Corner

**Chapter 13**

**Well nothing was going quite right here**

**And I'm tired, I can't play no part **

**O come on, come on, what a state I'm in**

…**Help is just around the corner for us**

"Clear," Ms. Peace said the third time, and a few seconds after she was shocked, Warren watched transfixed as the monitor showed a sign of life, and hummed its steady beeps once again. Sara Peace placed the paddles back on the crash cart, and wiped her brow on her sleeve while she listened closely to Lia's heartbeat.

Warren meanwhile, rushed to her bedside, taking Lia's hand he said quietly,

"You're not allowed to die Mia, you're not."

The steady rise of her heart rate gave them some hope, she was stable for now but once the poison spreads even further, Lia would be worse off.

The three healers attached all the equipment needed to make Lia stable, and brought in her worried parents. Lia's mother rushed over to her side and wiped her tears away. His father was silent, but deep inside he was blaming his self, Grey wanted something from him, and he used his daughter as bait to get what he wanted. He put his head in his hands, wishing that he could heal his daughter, to get rid of the poison inside her that even Sara Peace couldn't take away. His power was the same as his daughter, but he wished that he could have been a healing doctor instead of a scientist at that moment.

Sara spoke to the two Landalls, "I'm going to ask the agency to bring in Rayne Landon, she's probably the only healer that could cure her. I can't heal Lia, I need all the help I can get."

The parents left the room to talk about the situation, leaving Warren, who was still holding Lia's hand. The door opened moments after they left and in came Layla and Will, identical looks of worry on their faces as they sat next to Warren.

Will placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "How are you holding up?" he asked while Layla looked at Lia's unconscious form sadly. Warren shook his head, wishing that Lia would awaken and return the tight hold he had on her hand.

"I was too late, she shouldn't even be here in the first place," Warren said in a hoarse voice. "We can't go on like this anymore, Grey is planning to attack even more of us soon, and I can't..." he rubbed his eyes in wearily and Will twisted his hands nervously.

"Toxic was just sent to prison after they took care of his burns and injuries." Warren scoffed at that and Will nodded in agreement. "Of course, they weren't really able to completely heal him, he's going to be handicapped for a long time."

Layla turned to look at Warren softly, "Derek wanted me to send you his thanks, and we were able to track down Toxic's accomplice with his help, he's been questioned but once we got to the place he said Grey was hiding out, it was already evacuated."

Warren sighed, "Can't really expect him to linger, with two of his cronies down, he's probably on his way to hire even more."

His two friends stayed with him for a few minutes, while Layla took some plant seeds from her pocket and grew some flowers to put on the empty vase on Lia's bedside table.

Alice and Nate came by to visit at around 10, and stayed late into the night, talking to Warren about all that had happened, and sharing his worries about Lia's condition. Warren's mom came in to check on them and finally persuaded him to take a break and eat something from the cafeteria. He came back just before Alice and Nate left, and stayed by Lia's side until the next day. Lia's parents were busy investigating the crime along with the rest of their team, and had stopped by early in the morning to check on their daughter.

"She'll be okay Warren, I was told by a member of the agency that Rayne Landon is coming in today," his mother said reassuringly. "Go to school and try to relax okay?"

In the end he agreed, and reluctantly let go of Lia's hand. He met Will and Layla by the front of the hospital and they offered to drive him to Sky High. He didn't know how he would get through all his classes during the day and fortunately, the students were preoccupied by presentations in the auditorium by various superheroes for more than half the day.

During his last class, Warren assigned a silent work period so he could research more about Toxic's hidden powers, reading the files from the IAS, he found that he was a class B villain, meaning he worked freelance, and his power was creating blade weapons laced with poison which was a combination of different hazardous chemicals that his body can secrete and transfer over to the blades.

A knock was heard, and Warren told whoever it was to come in since he was too occupied with reading Toxic's past police files.

"Warren?" a familiar voice said from the doorway and Warren paled at once, Will wouldn't come to Sky High at that time unless...

Excusing himself from his ninth grade class quickly after dismissing them for the day, he rushed to the parking lot with Will. Will briefed him on Lia's condition, saying that she had coded again, and that the healer they had called in to help, Doctor Rayne, had not come yet.

"No one knows if she's coming, the agency said that they've contacted her again but Lia..." Will trailed off, as he drove past the clouds and neared the rooftop of the hospital building. Warren's breath stopped for a moment as he thought about Doctor Rayne being too late to save her.

When they came to the hospital, Warren saw Lia's parents sitting outside, Mrs. Landall wasn't crying, but they sat still and silent. When they saw Warren they said nothing but there was deep sadness in their eyes.

He felt his heart stop as he entered the room, chaos greeted him as he saw healers injecting Lia's fluid lines with medication, with his mother also injecting something on her arm. The crash cart was on the side, the paddles hanging loosely. He looked at the monitor and saw the faint heart beat; she was hanging on by a loose thread.

His mother looked at him and said, "I don't know how to keep her stable for any longer, the poison is spreading faster than we can contain it and Rayne...I don't know if she's coming."

Warren took Lia's hand, which was cold as ice, and he tried to warm it up as his mother spoke. In his peripheral vision he saw her heart rate rising but he looked at his mother and he knew what he had to do.

"I'll go get her myself," he let go of Lia's hand and walked out of the room, and told the Landalls, who nodded at him, thanked him, and told him to take the teleporter in the right wing.

He was going all the way up north to Canada to bring back one of the best healers in the world.

* * *

Finding himself at the front of the reception desk, Warren walked forwards and provided his identification to the security personnel and soon he was being led towards the medical wing of the hero centre to see the person he was looking for.

Warren had not seen Doctor Rayne since he was stationed in London almost two years ago, back before she transferred to Toronto, Canada with her son and became hero residents there. Spotting her by one of the tables, he strode forwards and she looked up at him in recognition.

"Warren?" she asked curiously but smiled nonetheless and proceeded on giving him a warm hug. "What a surprise, it's so good to see you again, you haven't changed a bit."

Warren smiled down at her, "I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I need your help."

He told her about the attack that had happened the day before and Lia's dire situation that his mother and the other healers needed help on. Rayne had met Lia not too long ago at a ceremony in New York in which her brother Andrew was a part of, and felt worried instantly.

It also so happened that she knew who Toxic was, judging by the way she paled once Warren brought his name up, "He was indicted and sent to prison almost a year ago for murdering a hero, I never knew he escaped," she said as she picked up a few of her belongings to take with her. Warren knew there was more to her worry so he looked at her questioningly.

Rayne sighed, "I couldn't heal the hero he attacked with his poisoned blades, there was too much for me to remove," she finished and looked at him sadly.

"The healers were able to contain and remove most of the poison, but the little that was left is spreading again, I only ask that you help us remove the toxins," Warren replied in a pleading voice and Rayne nodded.

"Of course, I will try my best Warren, but I could also bring-"

A noise was heard outside, and the two turned around to see two supers wheeling in a patient with a silver arrow on his chest. Two healers rushed by their side to help clean up the wound and run a line.

One of the supers looked over to where Warren and Rayne were and greeted him.

"Warren?" she asked incredulously as she walked up to him. "Well look who's finally come to the other side of the continent."

"Vraine," he said as he hugged his old friend. "How are you?"

"Not too bad," she smiled and Warren turned the other super with them, wearing a blue and silver suit with a domino mask.

"Metalson," Warren greeted him and the two hugged and clapped each other on the back. "Nice to see you again."

Metalson took off his mask smiling, "How are you Warren?"

"That's actually why I came here Tom," Warren started. "I came to get your mom."

Rayne spoke up, "Amelia Landall was targeted by a villain and is in critical condition."

"Lia?" Vraine asked and Warren nodded.

"My mother and the other healers can't take all the poison out of her system and it's spreading, we were hoping Rayne could help."

"But of course, and I was just saying Vee and my son here could help me as well," Rayne said and Vraine nodded but they were interrupted by a loud beeping.

"Oh damn," Vraine muttered as she rushed over to the patient.

"Got a villain hit by another of his friends, seems like this one wanted out," Metalson explained to Warren and his mother Rayne, who immediately went over to check his charts.

Vraine acted quickly alongside Rayne, Warren saw the concentration on her face, past the golden mask which was painted around her eyes. He watched as she held the tip of the silver arrow on the villain, and the arrow suddenly formed into its liquid form, and like a thread she pulled it out of his chest with ease and threw it aside before it solidified. As it made a loud clank, Warren saw Metalson put a hand up and the now hardened metal flew up to his hand so he could examine it.

"Yup, it's Silver Arrow's for sure," he said as Rayne watched over Vraine close up the wound. "We've been trying to catch the bastard for ages," he added to Warren.

Warren saw how quickly they patched up the patient and figured that Vraine was being trained by Rayne, he knew she had slight healing powers but it seemed as though she had a recent power up in that field.

"Okay bigshot," Vraine said to her patient, who was breathing better and looking at her a little scared. "We just saved your life so I'd really appreciate it if you return the favour by cooperating in the investigation."

The patient nodded quickly and Vraine patted him on the arm.

After the three made sure that their patient was secured they walked towards the transport room heading for Maxville.

"Do you mind if we come along Warren?" Vraine asked as they went inside the elevator.

"I'd be grateful if you do," he reassured her. "I see you've worked on your powers well since I last saw you."

"Yeah, Rayne's helped me out a lot," she smiled. "I'm her new protégé."

"Hey Warren, if Lia was attacked yesterday, why didn't you call my mom sooner?" Metalson asked curiously and Warren looked confused for a moment.

He looked at Rayne, "The agency said they contacted you and said you agreed, that's why we were surprised that you never came, and I had to come here myself."

"They never called me Warren," Rayne replied, slightly worried.

Vraine looked at him worriedly, "Who was your villain again?"

Before Warren could respond the elevator doors opened and they were met with a crowded room with people running left and right.

An officer came up to the group, "There's been an incident up north so  
they're all taking teleporters to go up there, it might take you a while to get through."

Metalson looked at Vraine and she nodded.

"Come on," she said to the three. "I'll take us to Maxville."

They walked to the right of the room where there were no people present. She took hold of Metalson's hand with her left and Warren's hand to the right, Rayne held on to Warren and her son.

"Maxville General?" she asked Warren who nodded. "Okay, hold on tight."

The people in the circle were suddenly teleported through to Maxville. Vraine opened her eyes to see the lobby of the superhero care centre, and, feeling ostentatious with her costume on, she transformed back to her citizen self, Veronica, and she nudged her boyfriend to do the same. The four then rushed to the special care unit to see how Lia was doing.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later, Warren watched the slow steady rhythm of her heart beat, giving him some hope, but when he looked at Dr. Rayne and Veronica beside him, he saw a slight worry in their eyes.

"What is it?" he said, voice cracking.

"The chemical composition in her bloodstream is very unbalanced," Dr. Rayne said as she placed a hand on Lia's stomach, where the blade had pierced her. Her power allowed her to see bodily compositions, and she's able to make chemical compounds for medicine.

Veronica on the other hand, had even more complicated powers, and as she assessed Lia, she noticed something peculiar. She looked from the initial wound on her stomach and scanned her eyes across her form, stopping her gaze by the hand Warren was holding. She was silent for a moment as Tom made notes on the medical chart.

"Phosphorus, mercury, and blimey, plutonium," Tom had control over all metallic elements and chemicals and so sensing them was an easy task, separating them from the blood however, was a bit harder.

Veronica finally said to Tom quietly, "Tom, check her arm for me for a second," and so he did.

Soon enough he had the same curious expression on his face as Veronica and Rayne, who was preoccupied with mixing a solution to inject Lia with, turned to the two questioningly.

Tom turned to Warren, "Nothing there, it's all clean."

Veronica nodded and walked towards Warren, who was very confused by their actions, "What is it?" he asked.

She placed a hand on Lia's forearm, "Right here, where the poison is supposed to spread in her bloodstream and all the way down to her hands," she looked at Warren. "There's nothing there, it's completely void of poison, unlike the rest, and it's the left arm so her heart is steady for the moment."

Warren stared at her, this is all good to hear, but he didn't know why she was looking at him like that, "What is it Vee?" he finally asked.

Veronica locked eyes with him and said, "Don't you see Warren? You're healing her."

"What?" He looked down to see his hand grasping Lia's limp one, and became befuddled at once.

Veronica looked intently back at Lia's left arm, "You're suppressing the spread of the poison on this part of her body, whatever it is you're doing, is keeping her heart rate up."

Tom smiled at him, "Someone's developing their mother's power."

Warren looked at his hands again, not believing them at first, but realization dawned on him; he has been holding Lia's hand the whole time she became stable, he remembered the way he saw her heart rate go up when he took her hand just moments before he went to Toronto, and when he thought about it, he realized that it must be because he was trying to warm her cold hand.

Veronica answered his thoughts for him when she said, "Every healer has a different way of healing people, trying to pass on your warmth, it seems to me, is the very thing that's healing her."

"Is there anything else I can do to help?" Warren asked and Veronica moved towards where Tom was standing.

"Stay there and keep at it and we'll all work to bring the concentration back towards her flesh wound, Rayne is injecting medication that will keep her blood from clotting, but once the poison is all in that one place I'll have to perforate the wound again so us three can extract it from her blood, your mom will watch her and keep her stable as she can," Veronica said as Rayne walked in with Sara, ready.

Warren watched, transfixed, as the three of them stationed themselves in their proper places, with Sara by Lia's heart, making sure it's normal, Tom across from Warren doing a similar thing to Lia's right side, Rayne injecting the medication on Lia's line and making her way towards Veronica, who had passed her hands from Lia's lower torso to move the poison towards her stomach. Rayne nodded her signal to Veronica and she placed her hand on Lia's bare stomach, her index finger following an invisible line and as she moved her finger down, the flesh was cut off as if done by a surgical ten-blade. The heart rate monitor beeped in warning and Sara concentrated on her work, while Rayne motioned to her son. He nodded and moved closer to the two, and together they tried to separate the poison from the blood.

It all happened very fast, but Warren saw it in slow motion; the blood pooled from the cut on her stomach and was moving as if something was trying to escape it, and soon thin, shimmering strands of a glowing substance made its way out of the pool of blood. Veronica waved a hand over the substance and made it float towards a metal bowl on the side table. The strands kept making its way towards the bowl and when it stopped, Rayne placed a hand over the wound and as if in rewind the blood made its way back into the cut and it was closed in an instant.

The moment the wound closed Warren knew something had gone right because not only did Lia's heart rate go up, but the colour also came back to her once pale figure and the cold hand he was holding was suddenly warm.

He sighed in relief and smiled at the others.

**TBC**

**

* * *

**

**A.N: Ta-da! First update this year, don't be mad for the long wait because I've been super busy with schoolwork as usual. I'd like to thank Offtolalaland for not only beta-ing previous chapters but also letting me borrow one of her characters and helping to write out this chapter. If Vraine or Veronica seemed familiar, yes, she is in fact a character in the story 'Open Your Eyes', and I know that story was supposed to be a Warren/OC (although the ending was a bit ambiguous) so we both figured she can make an appearance here, and her boyfriend, as a couple of Warren's old friends (and if you've read Open Your Eyes, the three actually made an appearance together in one of the chapters). **

**So that's just an interesting fact, and anywhoos, I sincerely hope this update satisfies my wonderful readers, thank you for the reviews and I'm hoping to get more because they're simply terrific. Next update will most likely be when school ends for me since I've only got half the next chapter done (unfortunately, because I'd rather work on this than school stuff but I really can't). **

**So please be patient, review, comment, suggest, flame if you must, compliment :) and tune in next time! **

**Ps. Aren't you guys glad I didn't kill Lia off? lol**

**Chapter Song: Help is Round the Corner by Coldplay**


	15. Always

**Chapter 14**

**When the world gets too heavy**

**Put it on my back**

**I'll be your levy…**

**It was always you**

**Falling for me**

_Beep, beep, beep._

She heard the sounds and felt movements around her, but Lia stayed still on her bed, trying to remember the dream she just had. When she found that she couldn't remember, she tried to move around on her bed a little bit, but felt stiff. She flexed her hands under the sheet to power up, and figured that the restraint on her was gone since she could feel an energy current surround her. Lia then heard someone near her shift and set something down on a table. Willing her eyes to open, she was surprised that they obeyed so easily, and after focusing her eyesight a bit, she saw a bright room and a woman sitting beside her.

"Hi," the woman said timidly, giving her a gentle smile.

Lia looked at her, and wondered why she looked so familiar. In the next few seconds she remembered and smiled back at her.

"Veronica," she said warmly, and tried to sit up on the bed feeling much better than before. "Hi."

Veronica took her hand and Lia began to feel even stronger as she felt energy currents transferred to her. When she let go, she said, "Well, everyone would be glad to hear you're up, you don't feel any pain anywhere do you?"

Lia shook her head and asked, "What happened?"

Veronica informed her on what had taken place, from Toxic's poison to her condition before the healers all managed to take care of her. Lia took in this information, horrified at the thought, and when Veronica ended she took a deep breath.

"Wow," Lia breathed out. "How can I ever thank you all for saving me?"

Veronica smiled at her, "Don't you worry about it Lia, we're glad we could help."

Lia sighed, then let her head fall back against the headboard, "Where are my parents? And the others?"

"Dr. James and Liza are with Rayne, they're questioning someone down at the agency that lied about calling Rayne for help," Veronica replied with a frown on her face. "They suspect them to be working for the man who sent Toxic after you."

Lia gulped, "And do you know who this man is?" she asked cautiously and Veronica shook her head.

"I don't know the whole details," Veronica replied. "But I'm sure your parents and Warren will tell you about it soon enough."

Lia nodded, she remembered what Toxic had said the day of the attack, and tried to piece together his information. "Right, they're all in this mission together. It seems as if they have something he wants and he was going to kill me off to warn them."

"Despicable…" Veronica muttered darkly and Lia agreed with her.

The two were silent for a moment, but Veronica smiled reassuringly, "Well… what matters now is that you're okay. Everyone has been really worried, they'll be happy to know you're better, especially Warren."

There was a knowing look on her face and Lia immediately knew why, "So he's told you?" she smiled a little.

Her companion shook her head, "He didn't need to tell me, the way he looks at you gave it all away." She replied in a teasing tone. "So how long have you and Warren been together?"

Lia sat up straight and grinned at her friend, "Not very long."

Veronica took a folder from the table beside her and opened it to update Lia's medical file, "He's been in quite a state ever since you took that blade for him," she said casually as she wrote down her current vital signs.

Lia was silent, contemplating, while Veronica set down the file and turned back to her.

"I think you two make a wonderful couple," Veronica said, her eyes twinkling with happiness. "You two are very…well, _connected_ would be one word for it."

"Connected?" Lia asked surprised.

Veronica nodded, "Yes, I can't explain it fully, but I can see that there's something between the two of you that makes you both stronger. I haven't seen many couples who can pull their strengths from each other, to be each other's backs when times aren't as good."

A grateful smile graced Lia's features, "I know of a few couples who are like that," she said lightheartedly, as she thought of her parents and also the person in front of her. "You included- you and Tom. Having seen you work together, I can see exactly what you're seeing in your relationship."

Veronica grinned, "It must be woman's intuition that gives us these perspectives. It's completely strange isn't it?"

"Strange yes," Lia affirmed. "But very true," she finished in a low tone.

"You love him very much," Veronica said; it wasn't a question but a statement. Lia nodded.

"Always have."

"That's great, I'm glad Warren found someone as great as you."

Lia leaned forward and hugged Veronica, completely touched by her words. "Thank you Vee."

Veronica patted Lia's arm as she settled back on her bed.

"Now…before Warren comes in and denies it, I think that you should know he's the primary reason for your miraculous recovery."

"What do you mean?" A surprised Lia sat up straighter on the bed.

Veronica started, "Well, a very rare occurrence happened, in which Warren had a power-up and inherited his mother's power."

Lia's mouth fell open, "You're kidding," and her companion shook her head smiling.

At that moment the door opened and Tom came in, looking between the two girls, one with her mouth open and the other smiling broadly.

"Did I miss something?" Tom asked the two as he walked towards Lia to give her a warm hug.

Veronica chuckled, "I just told her about Warren's new-found powers."

"Oh yes, I think he's still pretty shocked about it, he actually just told Will a few minutes ago and Will had the exact same face as you Lia," he grinned. "He's still in the caf with him and Layla."

Lia finally regained her voice, "It's just…wow…" she stammered. "I mean, another power? When is he going to stop getting even more powers?" she finally chuckled and the two joined in, laughing at their inside joke.

Tom's phone beeped loudly and after glancing at it, turned to Veronica, who nodded.

"We have to leave soon, Lia, but we'll keep in touch won't we?" Veronica asked her.

Lia nodded, "Of course, that sounds great!"

"We also heard that you'll be starting at IAS International in September," Tom said. "Veronica and I are taking a yearly contract with them starting this summer, so we'll most likely see you there."

"Awesome, I hope I'll get to do missions with you guys."

As the three were hugging goodbye, the door opened and in came Warren, looking surprised at Lia being up.

"Oh there you are Warren, we're sorry we have to leave so early, but Rayne is going to stay here for a while," Veronica informed him and he nodded and swiftly walked towards Lia.

"Hey you," Lia said lightly as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Feeling better?" he asked, taking her hand.

"Much," she smiled.

Warren left Lia for a few moments as he walked Tom and Veronica to the elevators down the hall, after their heartfelt goodbyes to Lia. They met with Layla and Will and the group walked towards the transport room. A few moments later Warren's phone rang.

A deep and familiar voice spoke to him, "Don't think you got lucky this time Flare, I'll come back for her sooner or later. Now that I know she's a special someone to you, it just makes the chase thrilling doesn't it?"

"Why don't you fight me coward?" Warren hissed at him.

"In due time Flare...in due time."

He hung up the phone and his companions became worried.

"Was that him?" Veronica asked and he nodded. "I wish we could help in any way."

Warren reassured them, "You have helped us, but I'm responsible for this now, he wants me."

Tom put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll fix this soon Warren, don't forget, we're always here if you ever need us."

They shook hands and hugged goodbye and he did the same to Veronica who added in a low tone,

"Take care of Lia," he nodded and waved at the two as they departed, after exchanging hugs with Will and Layla.

Warren watched as the two disappeared out of sight, and turned to his other two friends. They looked at him with grim faces. He shook his head and sat down on the bench beside him.

Will started, "So what did he say?"

"He knows about me and Mia," he muttered, glancing at his caller ID, the number was unknown and he sighed. "He's planning to attack her again soon."

Layla sat down beside him, tense, "How could he have known?"

Warren shook his head, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"What do you plan to do?" Will asked, he saw something in Warren's face that worried him. Layla, on the other hand, felt him tense beside her when Will asked him the question.

"There's only one thing to do in this case," he said quietly.

Will and Layla exchanged glances, they knew what their friend was about to say.

Layla grasped his forearm and looked at him intently, "Don't do it Warren, you'll break her heart."

**TBC**

* * *

**Seems as if our hero has a bit of a dilemma doesn't he? Keeping in mind that superheroes are supposed to be noble, is it better for Warren to stay with Lia knowing she'll be in more danger or leave her so that there's less of a threat? Discuss. **

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the update, and I'll try to post up the next one in the coming weeks. Don't forget to comment! :) **

**Thanks to all the reviews I have gotten, and since I haven't replied to any of them in a while here they are:**

**_Talis Roudair_- I was writing out a chapter the other day and completely forgot about choosing Lia's superhero name, so I scroll down your reviews and found one that I really really liked. Thank you so much for all your suggestions and when that chapter comes out, I'll make sure to give you and the name you suggested a special mention :)**

**_ToraNoKo123_ - I'm glad you're liking the story, everytime I read a good story I usually stay up late too so I'm happy you think this one is good enough to finish in one long sitting :)**

**_libblyloo, Aimee1994, little-red-wolf-5793, & KhAeL __-_ Thanks guys! hope you liked this update and keep on reading :)**

**Chapter Song: Always by Panic at the Disco**


	16. Breathe

**Chapter 15**

**And we know it's never simple **

**Never easy**

**You're the only thing I know**

**Like the back of my hand**

"Why didn't you just destroy the files? He wouldn't have anything to bargain for that way," Lia was still in the medical centre's private recovery room, surrounded by her parents, her aunt Sophie, Will, Layla, and Warren.

Her dad sighed, "That was the original plan, but the IAS stopped us, saying that the scientific information was too valuable to be destroyed."

Lia bit her lip, the others have been very open about their mission towards her, for the sole reason that she was a part of the problem the moment the villain sent an assassin after her.

"It's a long mission meant to be on our sidelines," her aunt said sadly. "The IAS knows Grey works on his strategies for months and months, and he's been on their villain tabs since he escaped from prison 8 years ago."

There was no offense to be planned because of the risk, and the knowledge that their villain was formidable at concealment. The only plan of action was to trace his dealings in the villain underground where he can hire freelance supers, and of course, his attacks. After a while, the three adults left, leaving Will, Layla, and Warren alone with Lia.

"There's more to the story isn't there?" Lia asked the three, as she picked up her glass of water and drank from it. "Grey seems to be more than just your regular run-of-the-mill villain, especially with the way you three looked when the adults were talking. So spill."

Layla looked at Will, who in turn looked at Warren, who sighed.

"James and Liza told you that the top targets are your dad and I because we were the ones who physically took the files from his hands. While they were right in some respect, they also knew that Grey was after me for another reason," he said as he watched Lia change her sitting position to be more comfortable. "They probably thought it best if I told you myself."

Layla and Will were silent listeners; they have only known the story for a few months, just before Warren was sent to Sky High.

"Grey was a friend of my dad's," he started and Lia blinked in surprise. "They worked together in some villain projects back then. One of the projects they were doing backfired and Grey was caught, my father escaped. Grey hated my dad for leaving him and not trying to break him out of prison."

Lia nodded, she understood why he would, but it seemed to her a petty crime for exacting revenge on his son. Warren continued, as if responding to her thoughts.

"It didn't end there though, it so happened that Grey's wife, who was a superhero, cared for him very much even though he was a villain. When she found out what happened, she sought out my dad, but she had no luck. So she went after my mother instead." his eyes darkened at that particular part of the story and Lia was still, silent. "The two were friends as their husbands were, they had something in common that they shared obviously. But Drina Grey was very cunning for a superhero, and her weak spot was her husband. Mom never thought her friend was capable of hurting another, so when Drina lured her someplace to trap and kill her, mom was caught off-guard. Drina controlled electricity, and my mom had no offensive powers, so killing her would have been easy enough."

Lia's heart was hammering as he recalled what had happened years ago; she could picture the events as he told them, with a faceless woman trying to kill Sara to avenge her husband.

Warren went on, "She tortured mom, and she was close to death when dad finally found her. He felt something was wrong and searched everywhere for mom and me to make sure we were safe. I saw him that day at school when he stopped by during my lunch hour. I didn't see it then, but now that I recall it there was a crazed but worried look in his face. He left after he made sure I was okay and looked for mom. I'm not sure how he found her but fortunately he did. Drina saw him and of course, a firefight ensued. He was enraged because Drina had hurt mom badly...He didn't bother to control his power and the fight ended when he killed Drina."

He paused for a moment and Lia sighed, poor Drina who let her rage get the best of her and ultimately led to her demise. And poor Baron Battle, who also let his emotions fuel his power, killing someone and ending up jailed with 3 life sentences under his belt.

"Well you know the rest, the Commander came in and arrested dad. When mom was better she testified that dad only killed Drina for defense, but the cards were still against him. The Commander didn't know what had really happened and dad had a villain record, whereas Drina was an influential super. She was high up in the IAS so obviously they would take her side," Warren finished and Lia turned to Will.

"Does your dad know about this now?" she asked curiously and Will nodded.

"He found out the truth a few weeks later after Mr. Battle's arrest. Sara was able to talk to him properly and explain everything. He tried to appeal that particular case but the IAS wouldn't have it, and with the rest of his record it was hard to reduce his sentence," he replied sadly.

"Oh," Lia responded just as sadly and turned back to Warren. "So... Grey had more reasons to hate your dad didn't he? When did he escape prison?"

Warren leaned back on his seat, "About three months after his wife died. He didn't go after me and mom because he couldn't risk being seen in Maxville, especially with all the supers living here. He started his own projects over the next years, and when we were called in to deal with him at the beginning of this year, he recognized me at once, saying that I looked just like my dad. Coupled with taking his files, he threatened to send more of his men who weren't in prison with him to kill me. The IAS then asked me to hide out in Sky High while the whole mess was sorted out."

Well, Lia thought, at least the IAS was concerned for Warren's safety at the very least. But she also knew that he didn't like being shut out of field missions for months- to him the IAS were being too cautious for his liking.

"If this goes on even longer," Lia started as she looked at Warren concernedly. "Will you leave the school and go back to work?"

He pondered for a moment and answered truthfully, "I'm considering going back to work in a month, besides, Boomer is probably ready to go back to his post soon."

Will and Layla looked at him, obviously not knowing about his decision till then, but in truth, they never expected him to stay at Sky High for as long as he did. Saying the words confirmed his plans, and his two friends were determined to stand by him if something were to go wrong after he leaves the confines of Sky High.

Lia looked at the three as they exchanged knowing glances, "Good for you," she muttered. She couldn't imagine being grounded as he was at that moment, worrying about what was to come next and not doing anything. But then again, that was what their current mission was all about at that moment. A sigh escaped her mouth.

Layla and Will said their goodbyes minutes later, saying that they would leave her to rest. Lia waved goodbye and when they closed the door, turned to the person next to her with questioning eyes.

"It's late, I better let you get some rest before my mother comes in and scolds me for keeping you up," he said as he started to get up.

Lia grabbed his arm to stop him and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Not so fast hotshot, I know what you're doing, and you already know you can't avoid me."

Warren exhaled and sat back down with his arms crossed, returning Lia's reprimanding gaze. He waited for her to start.

Lia threw her bedcovers aside and sat at the edge of her bed, directly facing Warren who was on a chair in front of her. She calculated his face for a moment before she inquired,

"How come you never told me?" she said so quietly that someone two paces away would never have heard what she had said. Warren however, heard her perfectly, and knew in an instant what she was on about.

He had never told her the truth about his father.

"I guess I never told you because it was easier," he replied calmly.

Lia raised an eyebrow, urging him to go on.

"I was what?... 12 when it happened. Mom and dad thought that I should know the whole truth, and that's what I was given by both of them, everything from dad's illegal doings, his relations to Grey and what happened that day. It was a lot to take in," he pointed out as he uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair, looking out the window and the dark sky beyond it for a moment.

"You knew only the very general details- that dad had become a villain, was caught for his misdoings and jailed. Simple enough right? You were only 9 that time and I thought that maybe you just wouldn't understand.

"And as we grew older, I suppose I just stuck with the old story given to you so I wouldn't have to deal with those issues again. Do you remember how irrational I got whenever someone mentioned my dad?" A memory flashed in Lia's eyes of years past when Warren told her about a freshman named Will Stronghold and their cafeteria fight. Yes, she did remember how touchy he got when people mentioned his father. Warren continued, "And I suppose I just didn't want you to feel sorry for our predicament."

Lia looked down, would she have felt sorry if he had told her long ago? "Well I don't know what I would have done back then if you had told me, but that is definitely not what I feel for you now.

"You know... I never really thought much about your dad being a villain. The only times I saw him he was perfectly normal, and I guess I really didn't manage to grasp the fact that he was a villain feared by most."

She gave him a soft smile and took his hands with her own, "I'm glad I know the whole truth now, because what he did was something that plenty of other villains would never do, and that is to do something bad by accident for those they love."

Lia gave his hands a squeeze, reassuring him, "And I know that you think it isn't fair for the IAS to give him such a harsh sentence because he went against a high ranking official, but that's just how the system works. Don't judge them too harshly on those flaws because it takes time for things to change. Someday, when you leave the IAS and start your own projects, maybe their system would have changed by then- hopefully with a bit of your help- and your dad would be given parole for good behaviour."

"I hope so," Warren said quietly as he watched her fingers trace the tattoos on his arms absentmindedly. He wished for those things to happen, but he knew that Lia was right, that he would have to wait a long time, and he would also have to try to help in making some changes in their current system.

"I visited him last year," Lia went on and he raised an eyebrow in question. "For the villain projects assigned to all juniors."

"Ahhh, of course," he remembered the same project he was assigned that year, which was to research villain records with primary resources on their different motives and strategies, and to write a thesis on it.

"Well we had a scheduled trip to Maxville Prison and Mr. B was the only one I knew."

"So how did it go?" asked Warren curiously.

"I really didn't know what to expect, I thought he wouldn't remember me because I hadn't seen him in years. Besides I didn't even know what to ask him about for my thesis," Lia grinned at that and continued. "Anyways I was surprised when he did recognize me, and we got to talking about many things as we walked around the grounds. He asked me about school, my parents, Andrew, my plans for the future, etc. Somewhere along our talk he managed to give me enough information to finish my thesis, and told me he was glad to help, even though he never did approve of Sky High's- and I quote- 'stupid superhero curriculum'. He was just as funny and nice as I remembered him when we were kids."

Warren listened to her recollections contentedly, happy that she thought his father was just as normal as he perceived him to be.

"He talked about you a lot," Lia informed him. "How he was proud of you, your blossoming career, and happy that you had good friends like me," both snickered at her words. "Yeah, well he obviously didn't know we weren't on speaking terms then, but still. I could just see that he loves you very much, you and Sara."

Warren was quiet for a moment, touched by Lia's observations.

"He's a good dad, even with these circumstances," he remarked, and meant every word. "Just a good person who's done bad things in the past."

Lia nodded in agreement, "He really is."

"And you know what?" Lia added. "Grey was right in saying that you're just like your dad. Not just your looks either because you do very much look alike... Anyway what I mean is that you're both very passionate. Driven by your emotions, which is not at all bad every time, but I guess you just have to keep them in check," the corner of Warren's mouth twitched at those words and Lia continued, unperturbed. "But it's true, your dad loved too much that he did something terrible by accident, and that's something I don't want to happen for you."

Lia's tone was serious at that moment and she knew that he understood, he nodded and kissed her hand, whispering his agreement. She gave him a small smile.

"And there's one other thing you have in common," she said as she brought her hand up to the back of his neck pulling him closer.

"And what's that?" Warren breathed out as their noses were inches from each other. Lia smiled widely in reply, making him study every laugh line on her face, her uneven dimples, and her perfectly straight teeth.

"He calls me Mia too," Lia replied lightheartedly, and Warren finally returned her smile.

There was a playful look in his eyes as he said, "That barmy old man is a copycat."

Lia laughed and in response pulled his head in closer to her and kissed him. The familiar warmth that came with his touch was intensified as he slid an arm round her waist and pulled her to sit on his lap. Lia's hands rested on the back of his neck as they continued on, oblivious to the passing time and the beeps coming from Lia's medical monitor on the side, signaling the sudden rise in her heart rate. The two were so preoccupied in their own little world that they didn't hear the door open.

The two broke apart when they heard a woman give a little cough behind them. They turned to her with identical looks of shock on their faces. Sara Peace smiled.

"Well, don't mind me, I was just passing by that's all," her tone was light and teasing as she watched Lia got off Warren's lap to sit back on the edge of her bed. Warren turned to his mom with an exasperated look, knowing what was to come next. "I only need to give you your meds Lia honey, and then I'll be off and you two can continue what you're doing."

Lia blushed crimson at her words and Warren shook his head at his mother, "Mom," he said with a pleading look.

Sara raised her hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I was just a little surprised that's all."

A smile escaped Lia's face as she let Sara inject medication to her arm, Warren on the other hand dismissed her words and said, "No you're not."

Sara laughed and sat down beside Lia, facing the two, "Alright I lied, I knew it was only a matter of time before you two got together.

"And how long has this been going on?" she finished, looking from one to the other.

Lia answered, "Only a few weeks," she searched her face for any negative reactions but found none. "Are you mad?"

Sara shook her head, "Of course not, I think it's wonderful," she took Lia's hand and smiled at the pair. "I also know why you're keeping it a secret, so you don't have to worry about me spilling the beans to anyone."

Warren sighed, "We'll be able to tell everyone once I leave the school," Lia nodded and then turned to Sara with a questioning face.

"You don't think my folks would get too angry do you?" she asked curiously and Sara shook her head no.

"To be honest I think they would react the same way as I am," Sara smiled reassuringly. "They know that you both are great friends so this step up would only make them happier I'm sure."

Warren stretched his arms out in tiredness and commented, "I have a feeling they know already."

Lia opened her mouth at him, she had only seen her parents that afternoon and she never noticed anything, "How come?"

"Just the way they talk to me," he shrugged.

Lia blinked, "Not badly I hope."

He shook his head, "No, the opposite actually."

Lia giggled in reply, she can just imagine her mom fussing over Warren like she did her ex-boyfriends and dates, whereas her dad becomes overly nice and formal until he gets comfortable around the person.

"See?" Sara pointed out. "It'll all turn out well, I'm very happy for the both of you."

She squeezed Lia's hand and smiled at her, making her feel her acceptance.

"Thanks Sara."

Sara then grinned as she remembered something, "We had a wager about you both a long time ago…on when you would get together."

Warren opened his mouth, surprise evident on his face, and a little disturbed. Lia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And who was in this bet?"

Sara laughed, "Well, this was a long time ago, when you were only toddlers. There was Baron and myself, your parents, your aunt and uncle…and a few other friends," she pondered for a moment. "I'm trying to remember who wagered what…"

As she recalled the bets made by the adults the couple shared a look, Warren shrugged and Lia was close to laughter at that point.

Sara went on, "I think maybe your mom won Lia, I think she said you would be 18 when you two got together."

Warren turned to his mother as Lia laughed, "And what did you bet mom?"

"Oh, I was way off, I said you two would have a childhood romance, when you were around 8 and Lia 6. Baron said it would be when you were teenagers, and your aunt Sophie said something similar."

"What about my dad?" Lia giggled.

"Well, James didn't want to join at first, especially because you were his little girl, but it was all in good fun so he ended up joining in. Of course, he said something along the lines of you two being 35 and 37 or something close to it."

Warren's mom shared some more anecdotes with the two before she too, retired and went home. Lia looked at Warren's form and noticed just how tired he looked so she urged him to go home as well and rest.

"You need a real bed," she said strictly as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss. "So go home and don't come back to see me unless you've gotten at least 8 hours of sleep."

"I haven't gotten 8 hours of sleep in years," he pointed out as he hugged her close to him.

"Well now would be a good time to start," she squeezed his sides playfully as they walked towards the door.

Warren opened the door to leave when Lia held his arm back. He looked at her inquisitively and she smiled warmly in reply.

"I almost forgot, congratulations on the healing power-up, it's really great."

Warren returned her smile, and said his thanks. He kissed her goodbye once more and closed the door behind him. As he walked down to get his car he thought about his power-up, yes it was great that he now has healing powers, but the reason as to why he had gotten it in the first place wasn't so great. Lia had urged him to forget all about feeling guilty for what had happened in the past day and he said he would just to appease her. However he didn't think he would be able to forget it as easily, and he would have his recent power-up to remind him of what had taken place. With Grey's threatening words ringing in his ears, he got on his bed and fell asleep at once.

**TBC**

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A/N. An update in less than a month! This seems to be a new record :) I'll be trying to update monthly from now on since I'm taking only one summer course and have more free time to write. I'm looking forwards to writing down the next few chaps (and hopefully the ending soon) since I've had my storyline notes for over 2 years now. :)

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! The big decision from our hero(es) will be next chapter so stay tuned! Also, remember the drill: Review Review Review ;)

Review replies:

KhAeL: Hopefully it won't be too much angst like in most teen dramas, just a dash ;P

Miserlou : You're absolutely right, rallying together will probably be best. But sometimes people are irrational when it comes to things like this, Warren needs someone to knock some sense into him, really.

Talis Ruadair: I completely agree with you, I always cringe when I'm reminded of New Moon and especially Bella's actions when Edward was gone. I'm glad you think the character Lia is nothing like Bella (or else I would be cringing every time I write hahah). If Warren does leave her, she would most likely be distraught, but not on the extremes. I always imagine Lia to be as hard-headed as Warren is, but can be more sensible when it's called for.

sandradee27: Thanks! and no worries, the language does not offend at all (and it's weird since it comes out censored on my mobile as *** but not on my computer...lol I didn't even know it can do that) anyways I love that you think Lia is groovy and like Warren as well. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter and won't be calling Warren a twat (was that censored? hahah) by the end of it.

So have I given enough clues for the next chapter? Stay tuned my wonderful readers and have a beautiful day :)

**Chapter Song: Breathe by Taylor Swift**


	17. On Fire

**Chapter 16**

**Give me one more chance to see **

**You are the only chance I'll take**

**And I'm on fire, when you're near me**

Lia recovered fast, and by the end of the week was already up and running. Warren worried that she was straining herself too much, especially after she decided she would go back to school and back to working at the ice cream shop, even though she was still taking her medications, all meant to clear up her blood of toxins and balance her immune system.

He kept telling her to take it easy on the physical activities, but Lia was much too active to take note of it. She saw how Warren's eyebrows scrunched in stern disapproval when she was picked to fight in Save the Citizen and gladly accepted, but Lia was sure that she was healed completely and he had absolutely nothing to worry about. A few weeks later Lia was proved correct, after she was cleared of all medications and deemed fit for superhero training-not that she cared if she was unfit before.

Soon the senior class was preparing for graduation, which was in less than 2 months. Everyone had gone to each of their own orientations, and those with hero supports have begun their separate training courses set somewhere in Nevada near Area 51.

Warren rotated back and forth to everyone's orientations and training sessions, staying longer in those that were far away, such as Nate and Alice's orientation in the Justice League's headquarters up in space, Sean and Riley's all the way in South America for the IAS, and finally, with Lia's in the midst of the Saharan Desert where the IAS International Headquarters was located.

* * *

The two found themselves in an unfamiliar setting after stepping into a teleportation booth back at Sky High. They were transported to a city in Egypt, where the organizers of the orientation have booked all the new heroes and their mentors' rooms in a hotel. They were to take local teleporters to the main site of the International Division, a few miles west from their lodgings.

When they reached the site for the welcome session, the two met with other supers, both new and experienced. They were separated as the new heroes were called to sign in at one of the stations, while the others were free to walk around and continue speaking to one another. Lia left Warren talking with two other mentors who came with their students. As she lined up with about a dozen other supers, a girl in front of her turned around and smiled at her.

"Amanda Soleil," she introduced herself in a slight Spanish accent, and Lia shook her hand. "I'm from Venezuela."

"It's very nice to meet you," Lia replied. "My name's Amelia Landall, you can call me Lia.'"

She gave Lia a friendly smile, "So are you excited about all of this?"

Lia grinned, "A part of me is definitely excited, another part though is trembling with nervousness."

Amanda laughed, "Oh I know what you mean! I feel exactly the same. Are you from a superhero school or training centre?"

"A school, it's called Sky High, in the U.S. How about you?"

Amanda nodded, "Yes, I've heard a lot about Sky High, it seems like a very interesting school. I was trained in a hero centre in my city, I was assigned a mentor and started off with local missions when I was 16, then when I turned 18 at the beginning of this year I was offered a position here."

"That's great, at least you have experience, I only have a little and they're all in a school setting."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do great, we all just need a bit of practice right?"

The two girls carried on their conversation as they signed in and walked back towards the meeting hall. Lia found out that Amanda, or Mandy as she preferred to call her, lived in France with her French father and Venezuelan mother, but her dad died when she was 10, so both mother and daughter moved to her mother's home country. Her superpower was water control, and she was also able to create water creatures to do whatever she wanted.

"It's too bad that we have to wait a few more months until we officially start," Lia was telling Mandy, they had found out that they were to start September so that the International Division can get everything ready for them in perfect order.

"Oh yes, I don't think I would be able to wait that long, but what can we do?" she replied, and the other new supers around them agreed that they would take the time off to either meet or get in contact with each other to go over some of the things they needed to know by September. The new members became instant friends because they were becoming bonded by their jobs, especially with Mandy and Lia, who had found many things in common with each other. Lia dragged her new friend over to meet Warren, who she spotted sitting at one of the tables.

"Mandy this is Warren Peace, he's one of my teachers at Sky High," Lia introduced the two.

Warren shook hands with her and Mandy looked up at him in slight recognition, "It's a pleasure…but pardon me, have we met before? You look very familiar."

He looked back at her and felt similarly, as if he'd seen her somewhere before too, "I don't think we have, though you do look familiar as well."

Lia looked at the two curiously as Mandy smiled nervously, "Oh, maybe I've seen your Hero identity in the news at one point."

Warren nodded, "Maybe, my alter ego is Flare."

Mandy looked as if she was trying to remember something but in the next second she smiled up at him and said, "I see, perhaps that is the case. It's very nice to meet you."

The three conversed with each other politely and when Lia and Mandy were again sent to the first hero session, they left Warren. In the session they met with the Co-Director of the International Division named Ronald Anderson, who excitedly welcomed the two to his workplace. The session was an hour long, followed by three others, and was all about the things they were expected to do when they started their jobs, such as the risks, the technology, and the different superheroes they were to work with. The next morning was to follow in the same suit, and they would be free to return home afterwards.

Lia had dinner with the other heroes, Warren, and other mentors at one of the restaurants in the city, and they all enjoyed speaking to one another about their cultures and the different customs for superheroisms in other nations. Lia and Mandy talked about the training they had done in the past years and joked about their mistakes, but with the sincere hope that they wouldn't do as bad in the real missions. Warren participated in the two's conversation, offering his advice for future missions and such.

It was near midnight when they all retired to their rooms, and Lia walked with Warren up to hers, after saying goodbye to Mandy and the other heroes on the floor below them.

"It's good that I start on September," Lia smiled at Warren as they walked along. "That means that not only I get to work with you at the Maxville hero centre for about two months, but I'll also be there at Andrew's wedding for sure!"

Warren nodded along with her, but seeing her excited about staying in Maxville even for a couple of months after she graduated made his stomach turn; what if they still hadn't managed to capture Grey by that time? He would rather have her working abroad and far away than be taken in again by their villain and his cronies. Grey's call was at the forefront of his mind, and he still hasn't told anyone except for the four supers who were with him when he received his threats.

"Warren?" Lia asked as she waved a hand in front of his face. "Warren!"

He blinked and looked at her, they were in front of her room, and he saw Lia's eyes look over at him concernedly.

"Yeah?" He said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lia looked at him closely, "Are you all right? I just asked if you wanted to come in my room and you were staring off into space."

"Oh I'm fine" he replied reassuringly. "Just had a lot on my mind, and yes, I'd like to come in if that's alright."

He smiled at the last part and Lia chuckled as she pulled him into the room. It was decorated simply, with her suitcase at the foot of her bed. She opened it and took out her pajamas as Warren turned on the television and sat on the bed.

"What time does my last session end tomorrow? And do I have to head to school afterwards?" Lia called out from the bathroom sink where she was brushing her hair.

"7 at night, which means it'll be around noon when we get back so yes, we do have to go to school," Warren replied as he flipped through the channels. Lia groaned as she brushed her teeth next and after she was done, climbed on the bed.

"I'm exhausted, and I haven't had to memorize so many superhero profiles in my entire life," Lia mumbled as she snuggled close to Warren, who put an arm around her automatically. "And this heat kills, I know this is where you probably thrive, but it's like I'm in a sauna all day, good thing this hotel is cool enough that I won't stick on to the bed."'

"You have to get used to it," Warren replied. "Whether you like it or not, you'll be getting your assignments here every time you're due for one."

He looked down to see why she didn't reply and saw her sound asleep beside him. He set her head down gently on the pillow and kissed her cheek before he got up to get some of his things back in his own room. He came back to sleep beside Lia after a few minutes, but before he fell asleep, he thought about what he had to do soon, and how he was going to have a hard time carrying out his plan of action.

"I'm sorry Mia," he said quietly as he watched her head move to the side, her face illuminated by the moonlight shining through the clear window.

* * *

"Done!" Lia exclaimed happily the next day after her last session on emergency contacts. "It's too bad I won't get to see any of the other new heroes until September, but Mandy said she might be visiting the States sometime over the summer so we can see each other then."

"She's a nice girl, and you two are very much alike, it's weird," Lia laughed at his words and linked an arm through his' as they walked to the transportation room.

"You know what's weird?" Lia said. "She also has a lot of powers just like you…and like two other supers you know well…You don't think she's…?" she looked up at him inquisitively and he looked as if he was thinking along the same lines.

He pressed a button when they reached the transport and put in the coordinates for their destination, "She might be, but we'll find out eventually won't we?" he took her hand and she smiled up at him.

"Yeah," Lia replied, and soon she noticed the coordinates. "Ooh, where are we going?"

"Since we finished early, do you want to grab some dinner before we leave?"' Warren asked her and she nodded. The two then teleported themselves to the capital city and set their sights on a quaint restaurant. After their main course, the two ordered apple pies for dessert and while eating, Warren cleared his throat, determined that the opportune moment had come to start off his plan.

"There's something I have to tell you," he started and Lia nodded, looking at him intently as she noted his strange tone. "When we go back to Maxville, I think... We shouldn't see each other anymore. "

Lia dropped the fork she was holding and a small _thunk _resounded as she tried to process his words. To say she was shocked was an understatement, her forehead creased as many thoughts went through her head swiftly, but all she managed to choke out was a 'No'.

Warren blinked at her, he expected her to ask why and complain, but her face at that moment was of whole disagreement and at the same time, certainty. Certain that she knew their relationship would continue? Maybe.

"Mia," Warren started but she held up a hand to stop him.

Lia shook her head, "Whatever reason you have for breaking up with me Warren is probably not enough of a reason for a break up."

"You don't understand," Warren tried to reason with her but she simply wouldn't let him.

"Then help me understand why you would want us apart, after saying to me many times that you love me."

Warren closed his fists tightly, he had to stay calm, he had to tell her, had to make her see sense somehow.

"Let's go outside," he said getting up; Lia looked up at him with a blazing look in her eyes and followed suit. Warren paid the waiter and the two strode outside, towards a small park across the road where there were a few secluded benches beside giant trees. Lia sat down slowly on the bench, her thoughts still spinning around as Warren stood in front of her, his hand on his chin, scratching at his slight facial stubble, and looking around silently to see if there was anyone around. Finding themselves alone, he continued.

"What we have right now...it's not going well, you were safer without me around. It's better that we end things sooner before they get worse," he abruptly said while Lia narrowed her eyes and promptly stood up, almost eye-level with him.

"Are you blaming yourself again for what happened weeks ago? I thought you had gone past that! I thought you were okay with it!"

Warren shook his head, "I was wrong... seeing you out here on your own, I know that you'll be better off. You've got until September before you start out here, what if the Grey mission isn't over by that time? What if he goes and finishes you off before you even make it here?"

Lia was starting to get angry because she didn't know why he was saying those things to her, she sat down on the bench again as she felt her knees shake. Warren then sat down beside her and faced her off as Lia asked, "Do you doubt by ability as a super that much? I ran out of luck that day, that's all, I don't think the same thing will happen to me all the time in the future. I may not be as powerful as you are Warren, but I can take care of myself. Wasn't it you who's been telling me for the past couple of months that I'll do great? Or is Warren the Sky High teacher just giving his students false hope?"

Warren breathed out, frustrated, "I'm not in any way saying I doubt your abilities because you are an incredible superhero. I'm saying that I want to keep you safe the only way I know how, and that is to leave you be," he softened his tone then as he looked at his companion. "Grey is one person who's after me and those close to me Mia, but there are more of them out there, I'm only trying to keep you safe from them."

"Is this your only issue then?" Even with his softer tone of voice, Lia's eyes still sparked with anger at his faulty reasoning. "You don't want to be associated with me because I won't be safe? Or is another reason of yours that you just don't want my company?"

"You're only putting words in my mouth Mia," Warren roughly replied.

Lia eyed him just as strongly, "Then tell me the whole truth."

Warren stood up in anger and took a moment of silence to get his emotions back in check. It was no good to flare up in front of Mia because he couldn't keep his anger in. He paced back and forth as he saw her watching him in the corner if his eye. He was frustrated at what was happening to them, he hoped Lia would understand his feelings and agrees to break up, but she was just so stubborn! He could almost see a battle look on her face, urging him to go on so she can say her next rebuttal. He shook his head, aggregated, and turned around to meet the eyes that never left him.

"You died," he said as he ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "I was there when you died, and I couldn't..."

He stopped his pacing and sat back down beside her, head bowed. Lia heard his words again in her head, yes, she did slip up that fateful day, but she had recovered hadn't she? Why could he not look at the positive side of things?

"Us as a couple will not work out, I've seen it before in other couples who are both supers."

"If you're referring to our parents..." she said quietly, thinking about how Warren's parents had been separated because of their chosen careers, and of course, her own mother and father, separated for almost a year because of unexpected circumstances, also related to their work.

Warren looked away, confirming his thoughts and Lia moved her hand to touch his', only she retreated a moment later, and instead looked down at an inconsequential spot near her feet.

"What about our friends? They're all supers and they're together," she asked softly, and Warren still kept his eyes away from her, not able to look at her straight and continually lie. His plan was slowly falling apart on him and he knew it.

"They'll have as much trouble in the future," he reasoned simply.

Lia shook her head in disagreement and looked ahead, seeing a few cars drive by on the road, she tried to rationalize with him, "Okay, so if we weren't a couple we would still be friends. Tell me one thing Warren, as your friend, how will you handle me as another superhero if you can't even cope with me being in jeopardy now? I'll be in constant danger once I become official."

Warren turned around to look at her, his breath stopped short at what she had said at the beginning of her sentence but he shrugged it off for the moment and steadily replied, "It's not the same attachment."

Lia found his eyes for a fraction of a second and her own flared up at him, fists clenched, and her voice also rose in anger.

"That's a load of a crap," she replied harshly. "You're just shying away from your relationships, friend or girlfriend you'll still care for me, and there's no getting around our careers. You know it as well as I do and you have to accept it."

"It's easier to accept it if I'm not attached as I am to you Mia. I just can't… I can't handle being in a relationship with you right now, I'm sorry and I wish you'd understand where I'm coming from," Warren let his words out and he looked away once again, unable to meet her excruciating gaze.

Lia on the other hand only narrowed her eyes at his words, memories flashing up in her head. She had heard those words before, and it only raised her level of anger even more.

"That's the problem with you. You just choose to push anyone who's come close to you away. Well I won't be treated like your ex-girlfriends so don't you dare."

"What are you talking about?" Warren turned to her and asked incredulously at her subject change.

"'_I can't handle being in a relationship with you now, I'm sorry I hope you understand where I'm coming from'_? Those are the exact words you said to your girlfriends in high school when you broke up with them, and don't deny it because I was a witness for those not-so-happy occasions," Lia replied, looking at him hardly as if trying to burn him with her eyes.

Warren was taken aback by what she said, and thought about it, had he really said the same things to his ex-girlfriends when he broke up with them? A part of him wanted to deny it, but another part was telling him that she was right, and it was the reason why those words rolled of his tongue easily. He hated how his mind worked when he was lying.

Warren let out a frustrated breath and looked away, again, "Regardless of what I said to them, it's true nonetheless."

"What, that you can't handle us being a couple or that I'll be hurt because of it?"

"Both okay?"

Lia thumped her palms against the wooden bench she was sitting on tiredly, "I said it already that you can't possibly blame yourself for every bad thing that happens to me in the future. It'll be my job whether you like it or not."

"And that's exactly why I can't go on with this relationship anymore Lia!" Warren exclaimed as he faced her off, evident anger on his face.

Lia's breath hitched, and she blinked as she heard what he just called her. It was almost like a slap in the face; never, never had he called her 'Lia'. He noticed too and he looked at her, first apologetically, but in the next instant his face held the look of fierce determination.

Lia found her breath seconds after, and calmly replied, "There's no winning with you is there?

"If I wasn't a super and we were together, someone out there will know about us and try to kill me anyway. If I continue to be a super and we weren't together someone will _still _try to kill me anyways. Don't you see? In each case you lose! If you keep on being the noble git that you are, you'll never be happy."

Lia finally placed a hand on his forearm gently, and Warren looked down at her hand as she continued, "That's something I can't let happen. You're my best friend, and whether you end up with me or some other woman I can't let your worries get in the way of your happiness."

"Mia please," it was all Warren could say; he knew that he was slowly losing the battle and he didn't know how else to go on with his plan.

But Lia's face was set; whatever anger she held for a moment was gone, only to be replaced by concern and genuine love.

"Warren…stop avoiding my gaze and look at me straight in the eye for once. Please tell me the truth, how much do you love me?" Lia inquired delicately, and she could tell that he was surprised at the question.

Warren contemplated; if he rejected her then she would accept it and separate herself from him, just what he wanted so she could be safe. But her previous words were pushing to the forefront of all his judgment. Indeed, if she was a normal civilian she would still be threatened at one point, and if they were separated she would still endanger herself because of her job. She was right; he would lose either way.

He wondered how his friends were able to do this; Will and Layla, Zack and Magenta, Veronica and Tom- their loved ones were supers and they got on fine. However, a voice in his head interrupted and reasoned with him again: _Are they now? Maybe your friends have as much difficulty keeping their relationships as you are._

He was scared of the future even though he knew more than anyone else that he shouldn't dwell too much on it because it was uncertain. How many times has he heard people tell him so? He was falling for his fears and it was pushing him to lie and lie again to the person beside him. Warren felt like a coward, taking the easy way out just because he didn't want to deal with potential problems that might arose from having a serious relationship with another superhero. His thoughts raged on in his head for a few more moments as his eyes focused on his own hands.

Soon Warren felt Lia tense at his prolonged silence. He was suddenly brought back to reality as he saw what his actions were doing to her; he finally looked up and stared into her eyes. Lia's gaze was intense, no tears as was expected, but she was sad. The sadness he saw cleared Warren's thoughts at once and the truth rolled of his tongue as easily as he breathed.

"I love you more than anything in this world."

Lia closed her eyes and let his words sink in. She understood him; he didn't want to be the cause of any of her pains, she would think the same if it was the other way around- no, she does feel the same at that moment. She knows what brought on his attitude, and when she opened her eyes to look at him she knew. Grey went after her because he knew they were together. The villain hated Baron Battle's family, and he would claim his revenge on to anyone who had connections to the people who killed his darling wife.

She knew how hard it was for him to sit by her side as she battled to live, and she also knew that he wanted to avoid feeling that way ever again.

Lia took his left hand, and brought it up to her cheek. She felt his warmth spread through her like wildfire, and knew that even if the cards were all against them, she would never be able to watch him walk away.

"Then stay," she murmured. "Stay for me…Whatever visions, feelings, villain threats or anything that makes you think I'll die because of you, they will never come true. I promise you."

She brought his hand down with her own to her lap. Lia watched him for a moment, and in the next instant Warren looked down and saw a solitary pinky held out beside his hand.

"I promise," she repeated, her eyes never betraying her words.

Warren felt a familiar calm wash over him as he twisted his own little finger with hers, reminding him of childhood pacts made with sincerity.

Slowly his worries started to fade, but he knew it would never go away. Warren nonetheless, was offered an opening, a chance to take it one step at a time. He grasped her hand, and Lia squeezed it back, telling him that she was there, and that he could trust her. Lia placed a hand on his cheek and pulled him closer to her. She pressed her lips against his' and when she pulled back, Warren hugged her close to him, staying that way for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," Warren finally said and Lia shook her head reassuringly, a small smile on her lips.

"It's okay, I know why you did."

Warren leaned back on the bench and let out a breath, "I'm a coward."

"No you're not, never."

They stayed at the bench a little while longer, with Lia's head resting on Warren's shoulder, a silent conversation passing between them, resolving their previous fight. Soon after, Lia stood up and offered her hands to get him up, which he took as he stood up.

"Let's go home," She said and Warren nodded mutely, following her through the streets, towards a place where they could teleport safely back to Sky High.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N. Well hello there! I promised an update monthly so here you go. Hope you guys liked it (even though it was a little sad and angsty in some parts) :) **

**Thanks to all my reviewers for their kind and interesting words (hands out the cupcakes I made this morning ;P), and I really hope you guys continue to tell me what you think and suggest anything that you feel will make this story much better. **

**Since I'm finished with my summer course, and with only part-time work and other fun things to worry about, I've got more free time to think and write up as much as I can. So I've got this other work-in-progress that is part of this story-verse. It's called 'The Ring' and it's a short story about Will, Layla, Warren, Lia, and the rest of the gang with a little thing called an engagement ring for Layla. So if you guys are interested, head over to my page where the story link is just screaming: "Click me! Read me!"**

**Anyhoos, I'm going to keep my promise and update this story in less than a month, so once again, thanks to all my wonderful readers and don't forget to leave your comments! :) **

**Chapter Song: On Fire by Switchfoot**


	18. Somewhere a Clock is Ticking

**Chapter 17**

**Every second, dripping off my fingertips**

**Wage your war**

**A clock is ticking, but it's hidden far away**

**Safe and sound**

Maxville's own famed superheroes The Enforcer and Ivy walked quickly through the halls of the Hero Centre, towards the roof, having been called to watch over a protest at city hall. To make the journey faster, The Enforcer had Ivy on his back as he flew out to their destination. They caught sight of the crowd on the lot in front of city hall, and the two descended towards the spot where the police squad cars were parked. It was just an ordinary peace-keeping mission, and after observing the crowd, they found that they wouldn't have too much problems with them at all.

"Easy day huh?" The Enforcer grinned at Ivy, who sat atop a low tree branch overlooking the protesters chanting continuously.

"Yeah, and if I wasn't on duty I would be there protesting with them."

The Enforce r grinned at his girlfriend, "I saw one of your friends out there, he seems to be the one who came up with the chants."

Ivy smiled, "They are kind of catchy aren't they? They sound like-"

She was cut off by two ringing cell phones, one of which was hers. She picked it up at the same time The Enforcer answered his'.

"Hello?" Both voices rang out amidst the crowds' chanting in the background.

They heard Zack's voice from the mission control centre, sounding tense.

"Will, Layla- Grey's attacked our decoy sanctum. Elizabeth and Sophie were there when he attacked and they need help."

The two looked at each other gravely and said at the same time:

"We're on our way."

The Enforcer looked at Ivy worriedly as they began to take off, "I spoke too soon, this won't be an easy day after all."

* * *

The team had chosen two sanctums for their mission; one was the sanctum that held Grey's real files, and another was a decoy in case some of their information was leaked out in the hero centre. The decoy sanctum was where The Enforcer and Ivy were headed. As they sped through the skies like a blur, they tried not to let their worries cloud their thoughts.

"There," The Enforcer said as he spotted a solitary shack on the outskirts of the city.

They landed on the front lawn of the shack, but before they could go in to take the hidden elevator down to the secret sanctum they saw two figures limping towards the exit.

"No," Ivy breathed out worriedly as she ran towards the figures. As she reached them, the woman holding the other collapsed on the ground.

The Enforcer was close behind and helped Ivy carry the two unconscious women, who both had serious injuries.

"Elizabeth," Ivy said as she felt her move in her arms and opened her eyes.

She grabbed Ivy's arm weakly and said, "Go...hurry, time...bomb."

Ivy's eyes widened as she shouted at The Enforcer quickly, "We have to get out of here now Will! The place is wired!"

The Enforcer acted quickly. Taking the unnaturally still Laserbeam in one hand and Ivy on the other, who had a hold of Elizabeth, he rose to the air and away from the shack.

A black case holding a vast amount of explosives inside the solitary shack counted down the last ten seconds, beeping madly against the quiet that engulfed the area. With the heroes safely above some distance away, the last second ticked by and a big blast deafened their ears and was sighted from their position on the sky.

* * *

A phone rang and everyone fell quiet, with the students wondering whose phone was going to be confiscated in that instant. Lia however, recognized the familiar tone and looked up at Warren questioningly.

"Excuse me, that would be mine," Warren said to his class and they grinned cheekily at him in reply.

He walked over to his desk and took out the still ringing phone in his bag. He answered it quietly.

As the class continued to look at their teacher talking on the phone in hushed tones, with his back turned to them, there came another knock on the door.

Warren put the phone down as whoever knocked opened the door and peeked in; it was a sophomore girl named Carly Anderson.

"Excuse me Mr. Peace but Principal Powers has asked to see Lia down at her office," she said and Lia stood up slowly, a curious look still on her face as Warren nodded at her to go on. She was oblivious to the masked look of worry on his face as she left the room and headed to the Principal's office.

"Did Principal Powers say anything in particular Carly?" Lia asked her companion but she shook her head.

"No, I just saw her when I passed by her office on my way from the bathroom and she sent me," Carly replied.

"Oh, I see."

When the two reached the office door, Carly waved goodbye to Lia.

"Good luck!" she grinned and Lia gave her a small smile in return.

Lia wondered what Principal Powers was about to say but something inside told her it wasn't good news- it was never good news lately.

She knocked twice and heard Principal Powers' voice telling her to come in.

Lia entered and to her surprise saw Principal Power's teary expression. She had a tissue in one hand and the phone on the other.

Lia felt her stomach drop at the sight, "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly as she sat down on the seat across her desk.

Principal Powers looked at her sadly, "I just received a call from the IAS a few minutes ago... It's about your mom and aunt...they were...attacked earlier this afternoon, just as you had almost a month ago."

Lia paled at her words, and she stood up quickly.

"No," she breathed out. "Are they-?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words.

Principal Powers dabbed at her eyes, which made Lia even scared and answered her unfinished question, "Your mother is at the medical centre, in critical condition when they had informed me."

Lia looked away, she had to see her mom quickly, find out what happened and who was responsible. She looked back at her principal in reply and seeing the tear tracks on her face, she asked what had become of her aunt.

Heart racing, Lia watched transfixed as Principal Powers shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes once again, "She didn't make it," she said quietly.

Lia sat down slowly in shock; her aunt, Eddie's mom, her godmother- gone. She stared at Principal Powers as she cried some more, and Lia remembered that the three women were friends.

Moments later Principal Powers composed herself and told Lia that she was excused from school to see her mother and aunt. She also informed her that a representative from the IAS was outside to take her to the hospital. Lia gave her a nod and walked out, still in a state of shock. Seeing Principal Powers cry made her want to, but her tears never came, instead she walked back in her class staring at the spot ahead of her, not noticing about 20 pairs of eyes looking at her questioningly. Lia grabbed her belongings on the desk and slung her bag on her shoulder. She glanced at Alice and Nate swiftly and told them with a look that they can come to her later on. She walked towards the door and stopped by Warren's desk.

His face was grave, and Lia noticed the phone he was twisting in his hands, "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Lia looked at him with evident distress on her face that pained Warren to see, "Come soon," she said quietly and he nodded.

Lia turned to leave, and as she reached the school steps she spotted her escort beside a white car. Lia recognized him as the guy who had saved her in the bank some weeks ago, named Derek, whom Warren introduced to her after she got out of the hospital with him after the attack on both of them. Giving him a polite nod, she opened the car door and strapped on her seatbelt. Derek shifted to the flight gear and soon they were soaring down towards mid-town Maxville.

They landed on a high fenced parking lot and she walked side by side with Derek to the main entrance. After going through the checkpoint, Derek stayed behind as Lia headed towards the elevators.

"Lia," one of the healers breathed out when she saw Lia walk through from the elevator. Seeing Lia's blank expression, she led her towards her mother's room without hesitation.

It felt like déjà vu to Lia as she saw her mom with all the breathing tubes and lines, just as she had been almost a month ago. She saw that her heartbeat and breathing were normal, so Lia knew her mother would be fine. Turning to the healer beside her, she said in a small voice,

"I need to see my aunt," the healer opened her mouth as if she was about to object to her request but there was something in Lia's face that held her back; she wasn't crying, which surprised the healer, but rather she looked as if there were mixed emotions painted on her face; anger, shock, guilt, and grief.

The two headed downstairs, and reached a private room at the end of the hallway. Lia heard voices inside, and giving a curt nod of thanks to the healer, she opened the door.

Her dad was there to comfort her immediately, and after giving her a hug, he wiped the tears off his face. Lia's uncle was sitting on an armchair beside them, and Lia gave him a comforting hug as well, seeing the grief written on his face over his wife's death.

Lia turned and there she was, looking as if she was in a deep slumber. There were no battle marks, and as she listened to her dad talk about what happened, all Lia heard was that she was electrocuted by a villain with Grey. Lia reached out to touch her aunt's cold hand,  
and her shock and anger disappeared, only to be replaced by deep sorrow for her uncle and Eddie, who just lost their loved one in one blink of the eye, never to return to them again.

She walked back to sit next to her dad on a chair and faced her uncle, "Have you told Eddie?" she quietly asked.

He shook his head lightly, and Lia, knowing him full well, saw that he wasn't completely ready to tell his son in that instant. So she offered to pick up Eddie at his school and bring him to the hospital, where they can all tell him the sorrowful news.

Alone with her thoughts, with Derek following discreetly in a car not too far behind, Lia walked to Eddie's school, which was quite close from the medical centre. She sat on a bench and waited for the school bell to ring, imagining just how torn the 10 year  
old kid would be. She remembered when they all lost her grandmother, whom she was particularly close with, being her only granddaughter. She didn't cry during her funeral, but she felt grief either way, feeling as if a piece of her heart died along with her Grammy. She knew Eddie would feel similarly, and it pained her to know that she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She mulled over these thoughts and what she would say to her little cousin, and she never noticed a car pull up on the side street across and a man in a polo shirt walk towards her. When he was close enough, Lia smelled his familiar scent and hugged him close as he sat next to her. Neither said a word.

The school bell rang and soon kids swarmed the parking lot and the streets. Lia looked around and finally saw Eddie heading their way, laughing with his friends. When he saw his cousin, he ran up to her.

"Hi Lia," he looked up after he gave her a hug. "Why are you the one picking me up?"

Lia smiled a little for him, "I have to take you somewhere today."

He nodded his head, "Okay, cool."

Lia gestured to Warren and asked Eddie, "Do you remember Warren?"

Eddie smiled up at him, "Of course, you guys used to babysit me remember?"

Warren gave a small laugh, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Warren led the two to his car so he could drive them, and Lia chose to sit at the back with Eddie. Her cousin was telling them both about his day at school and about a prank he pulled off. Lia put an arm around Eddie and laughed with him at the right parts of his story, but soon enough they reached the medical centre and had to get off the car.

The two took Eddie down to meet his dad and Lia stayed back on one of the benches along the wall, holding Warren's hand for comfort as she listened to her uncle explaining what had happened to Eddie's mom inside the next room. She heard his tiny voice as he tried to wake up his mom, and her grip on Warren's hand tightened as she felt the same crippling grief as her whole family. Seconds turned to minutes and Lia had to be an observer as people flitted in and out of the hospital room, discussing funeral plans and their sincere apologies.

* * *

A few days later, a wake service was held at the Greene residence, just before the burial in the late afternoon.  
"Has anyone seen Eddie?" Lia asked the adults by the seats arranged in rows in the fairly large living and dining room, but they all shook their heads. Eddie's dad turned to Lia with concerned eyes.

"He told me he wanted to be alone," he said forlornly, glancing out the window. "My guess is that he's in the tree house out back."

Lia nodded and made her way towards the solitary tree in the backyard that held up a quaint tree house, with Warren in tow.

"You wanna climb up too?" she asked him but he shook his head.

"No it might break," he said and Lia laughed lightly as she turned to climb the ladder.

"Eddie are you there?" She poked her head in and saw her little cousin with his head on the short table, he looked up at her with the same sad eyes he's had for the last few days.

"I'm here," his tiny voice replied and Lia hoisted herself up inside, which luckily was just high enough to reach a bit more than her height. She sat down on the floor across the table from him.

"They're going to be doing their speeches in a bit," she said gently. "Are you going to come and say a few words too?"

Eddie shook his head, "I don't know what to say, and I might cry."

Lia took his little hand on her own and grasped it tight, "Well you don't have to make a grand speech like the others are doing, you can just keep it short and say how much you love your mom and how you'll continue loving her forever."

"Oh," he replied, as if he was thinking about her words. "I guess I can do that."

Lia gave him a small smile, "As for the crying part, you seem to have gotten the same genes as me because it's hard for me to cry too. I just wanted you to know that it's okay for you to cry, it's nothing to be ashamed about. If you cry out there today no one will think any less of you."

"Really?" he asked softly and Lia smiled reassuringly.

"Yes," she said. "Now let's get downstairs and wait for the other guests to arrive, I know you've been hugged and kissed a million times but you'll have to endure it for another few days or so I'm afraid," she finished with a slight teasing look in her eyes.

"Aww man, I don't like being squeezed out of my breath that much," he said, pursing his lips. Lia only laughed and ruffled his hair as they made their way down.

"Hi Warren," he greeted and proceeded on hugging him round the waist.

"Hey kiddo, nice tree house you got here," Warren replied and Eddie nodded and set off with the two back into the house, telling them of the time he built the tree house some years ago with both his dad and mom.

As Warren and Lia waited for more guests to arrive, they sat on the front porch on a small bench, having a slight conversation.

"So you can tell your little cousin that it's okay to cry but really you don't think that," Warren noted as they both looked out at the cars driving by and parking on the side streets.

"Yeah," she said quietly looking at the ground. "It sounds hypocritical of me doesn't it?"

Warren looked at her and said, "But if you can say those things to him, a part of you must think that it's okay, even just a little."

Lia sighed, "Maybe… I guess."

She turned to look at him, "Sometimes… I do think it's okay to cry... But I don't remember a time when I actually cried. How can someone do something that they haven't before?" Lia looked away, staring at a shiny black town car that just parked on the street. The passenger that got off the car held out his hand to a lady who was evidently in tears, wearing all black and sunglasses to hide her eyes.

"Her sister," she said to Warren glancing at the lady crying. The two stood up as aunt Lydia and her husband came up to them.

"Amelia," she said, giving a tearful sniff. She was about to say something more but she gave in to her sobs and hugged Lia, who hugged her back, trying to comfort her.

"I didn't want to believe it," she said tearfully. "But she's here, and I'm never going to talk to her ever again..."

Still crying, the four of them entered the doorway, where sad silence greeted them. Aunt Lydia and her husband were welcomed by relatives and friends and Lia turned to Warren.

"Do you want to go somewhere else for a little while?" she asked breathlessly.

Warren nodded and, taking her hand, the two walked out of the door again.

"It's hard seeing them like that," she said quietly as the two walked down the quiet street. "I wish our jobs weren't this heart-breaking."

"So do I," came his simple but truthful reply.

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N: Sad chapter I know, but it'll lead up to the main action and climax of the story as the chapters progress. Hope people are still liking this story and if there are any comments and suggestions I would gladly accept them :) Remember to review and I'll update as soon as I can. Have a good one everybody! :)**

**Chapter Song: Somewhere a Clock is Ticking by Snow Patrol**


	19. Waking Up

**Chapter 18**

**We don't lose, we might bruise**

**But we'll rain fire on you till you're playing all of your cards**

**We're waking up, and right on time**

Will, Layla, and Warren sat in a private meeting room at the Maxville hero centre the day after the funeral was held, discussing their plans of action. They had gone ahead without their two team leaders, who were still back in the hospital, but they had nevertheless briefed doctor Landall prior to their meeting.

Warren stared at the fireplace, looking entranced by the dancing flames, as Layla scribbled down something on her tablet. Will was talking about what was found in the destroyed sanctum's video system, which had conveniently been recorded in an outside system.

"This was the first time Grey showed up to do the crime, but he was still guarded by at least two dozen men when they ambushed Liz and Sophie," Will continued, looking at his two friends apprehensively. "He said that his next target would be Layla, but that he might just change his mind and go back to his unfinished targets."

"For fun I suppose?" Layla muttered darkly and Will nodded at her, then turned to his other friend, whose fists were clenched on the table as he continued to look at the fire.

Warren was silent, staring into the depths of the flames, calming him on the inside, but as Will continued to talk about their mission the fire had turned from a relaxing outlet to one where he could see images of destruction. The images were of fallen bodies and debris, surrounding him as if there was no escape- he had to do something, he had to-

"Warren?"

Will's voice broke him out of his reverie, and Warren turned his gaze away from the fire to face his friends' worried expressions. Seeing the images in his mind once again, he cleared his throat.

"He only has a few targets left, so he'll want to finish it soon." he said in a dry voice. "He wants a war, we'll give it to him."

Will and Layla looked at him with grave faces, but they knew that the time had come for them to finally be on the offense, ending the hide and seek game they've been playing for months.

"I'm leaving Sky High so we can be better prepared," Warren continued as he extinguished the flames in the fireplace with a wave of his hand, trying to erase the images that the flames had shown him. He stood up to leave with Will and Layla."There's no use of me hiding anymore."

* * *

Lia sat on a stool munching on some MnM's as the store only had a few customers and they all were eating at the available tables. She was waiting until her coworker Ian relieves her of her shift so she can go and pick up her mom at the hospital with her dad later on in the night. It was a Sunday, and her two best friends were out for their work training, while Warren told her that he had some pressing matters to attend to therefore he could not see her that day. Lia understood him of course, ever since the attack and her aunt's death the superhero community has been on red alert, especially those who were originally involved with the mission. With all the hours Warren has been spending at the hero centre, Lia wondered why he couldn't just quit his teaching duties and go back out into field missions.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door opened and a familiar face walk through.

Will's smiling face greeted her as Lia stood up to hug him. He sat on the counter stool beside her as Lia scooped up his favorite ice cream. She set his dessert down in front of him and Will grinned thankfully like a child.

"Thanks Lia you're the best," Will happily said and Lia just smiled along.

"So what brings you here Will? Anything new?" she asked swiveling on her seat a little.

Will swallowed and looked at Lia apprehensively, "Have you seen the news lately?"

Lia glanced up at the flat screen above them, which was tuned into MTV. She grinned sheepishly.

"It's been on MTV since I opened this morning," Lia said and Will only smiled in reply, which settled her thoughts that something bad had happened.

"So nothing bad I presume?" Lia asked.

"No, no, just... Quite the opposite really. Go on and look, it might still be playing on the 3 o'clock news."

Lia changed the channel and both waited a bit talking about what Will and the others were up to in the centre. Finally, the sound of the news' daily 'Superhero Works' segment came on and Will turned his head to watch it, as Lia followed suit.

"There was a building set on fire just this afternoon and he was called in to help," Will glanced at Lia then turned back to the screen. "Grey's doing of course," he added quietly so that only she could hear.

A news reporter was seen on site just in front of a badly burned section of a strip mall, right beside fire trucks.

"The police and the Superhero community have confirmed that this incident was indeed done by a supervillain called 'Grey'. His motives are unknown to us at the moment but the Superheroes wish to tell us to be vigilant, and in any sign of disturbance should call 911 straightaway," the news reporter started walking to her left and as the camera panned out a crowd was seen to be gathered around a figure, hidden amongst the bodies pushing to shake his hands and take pictures.

"The fire in this building did bring out a superhero who has not been out in the public eye for a few months," the reporter continued, stopping just beside the crowd that engulfed the superhero. "Flare was back in action this afternoon, coming just in time to save the tenants of the shops and the customers who were inside. Thanks to him, no one was seriously harmed and he was able to extinguish the fire before the whole structure collapsed."

Lia watched as a clip was shown of the fire, with Flare zooming in to rescue the people, while the firefighters helped him with the rescuing as well as hosing down the facade of the building. The clip ended and the news reporter seemed to have pushed herself past the crowd and was grinning madly as she stood beside Flare.

"Tell us Flare," the reporter smiled up at him. "We haven't seen you in quite a long time, how does it feel to be back out here in Maxville and saving lives?"

Flare looked at her politely, never looking directly at the camera, "It feels good to be back doing my job, I really appreciate everyone's support."

The reporter shook his hand enthusiastically and turned back to face the camera, "Well there you have it folks, the famous Flare is back, and everyone here seems to be celebrating his comeback!"

She turned back to face Flare again but she was shocked to see that he was gone.

"Ever the crowd pleaser," Will chuckled as he turned back to Lia, who smiled along with him.

"Good for him to be finally going out there, so he isn't coming back to school tomorrow?" she asked.

"He's going tomorrow for the last time," Will replied. "To explain things."

Lia nodded, "And after that... What's the plan? There are a lot more attacks lately."

"Yeah, lots, which is why we've expanded the team," Will said anxiously. "I'm afraid it's wartime between Grey and us."

Lia looked at Will apprehensively, with a million thoughts running through her head. Will must have seen the changed look on her face because he added,

"We'll try to be careful of course, we just want to end this," he said in a comforting tone, Lia nodded and smiled reassuringly, although her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I know...but it's hard to try being careful in these circumstances," she said, looking away slightly to watch a couple get up from their seats and after waving goodbye to her headed out the door. She turned back to Will, "And we know it's never sunshine and rainbows out there."

"One can always hope right?" Will replied and Lia grinned back at him.

The door chimed again and the two turned to see Ian walking through the door.

"Hey Lia," he greeted and Lia smiled up at him.

"Hey Ian, this is Will," she introduced the two.

"Will Stronghold," Will said as he shook his hand.

"Wow, you got quite a grip there," Ian chuckled and Will grinned nervously as he twisted his hands. "Are you two in the same school?" he asked curiously as he put his backpack on the counter.

"We used to," Will responded as Lia took out her belongings in the back room. "I'm a year older than her."

Ian nodded along, "Oh I see, so are you in college now?"

"Yeah, I'm doing some courses on real estate, I'm hoping to join my family's business," Will said automatically, and Lia smiled to herself as she heard his answer.

Ian looked up at him in recognition, "Oh you mean Stronghold Realty? Your parents right?"

"Yeah, that's them."

"That's really cool man, they were our agents when we bought our house last year, my mom always said they both were just supers," Ian said as he pulled on his apron and sat down on a stool casually.

Lia whipped her head around at Ian's last word and glanced quickly at Will, whose eyes were filled with nervous humor. No she thought, that was just Ian giving Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold an adjective, he couldn't know that they were actual supers.

Lia ended the awkward silence by saying, "Yup, Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are the best at their jobs. And Will's going to follow in their footsteps right?"

"Well, I'm trying to," Will chuckled.

"Okay Ian, I'm off, have fun tonight, it's been pretty dead lately so you can go watch TV for like 5 hours," she laughed as she headed for the door with Will beside her.

"Yippee," Ian replied sarcastically and waved goodbye. "See you then, it was nice to meet you Will."

"You too, see you later," Will waved goodbye once and both closed the door behind them.

He turned to Lia, "I'll walk you home."

"Are you sure? Derek's somewhere here so I'm pretty sure I'll be safe," Lia said as the two started walking along the sidewalk.

"Yeah, it's fine, I'm headed over to my house anyways, and-" Will was interrupted when his phone rang and he picked it up. He was silent as he listened to whoever was on the other end.

"Ok," came his simple reply and he turned his phone off.

"Called for a mission?" Lia guessed and he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I'll just walk you home next time," he smiled apologetically and Lia smiled at him and gave him a parting hug.

"Don't you worry about me, be careful out there okay?" she said.

"Of course, I'll see you later."

Lia saluted him grinning and he ran towards a secluded side alleyway to transform. Lia saw a red, blue and white blur speed up towards the sky and away. She continued to walk towards her house, feeling her silent companion follow closely behind. As she neared the community park that was just a few blocks along from her house, she heard people scrambling and yelling at each other. She walked quickly towards the commotion and saw about two dozen people who were all out for a stroll in the park looking like they were panicking. Lia walked up to one of them and politely asked what was wrong.

"We just saw two people on motorbikes being chased around by a super, they went that way, but the police over there are shooing us because they might come back this way. I guess I'll be going then, it might be too dangerous to stay," the woman said and Lia thanked her and watched her walk away with her dog in tow.

She felt someone beside her and she turned to see Derek,

"It might be best if we get you home too," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess..." the two started walking along when Lia heard loud engine noises and a bang from a distance. She saw the police squad cars parked as a barrier at the exit towards the street, so she felt an arm steer her in the other direction.

"There's another way out through here," Derek said as Lia followed him, along with about ten other people who were hastily walking to get away.

Another loud explosion came and the group covered their ears from the deafening noise. Another explosion came from much closer to them and they all dropped to the ground as flying debris rained upon them. Lia was tugged down by Derek and she could see him covering her with his body as one police car flew down dangerously close to them. Getting up, she helped the other civilians to their feet, and ushered them to a secluded path that led to an opening towards another street. Lia was about to leave with them as Derek urged her ahead but a familiar figure from a distance caught her eye.

Derek followed her eyes so he said, "We can't get involved Lia, we have to go."

But just as he said it Lia saw the two villains speed past the super in their motorcycles, their bullets flying through the air towards the superhero who were helping some policemen who were on the floor.

Fireballs were hurled through the air as snakelike fire crawled on the ground trying to catch the villains, who were circling around the grounds firing their inexhaustible bullets everywhere.

Lia felt a strong grip pull her away as both Derek and her saw the villains headed their way. The snakelike fire caught up to one of the villains and it pulled his back bike harshly, ejecting the villain in the process. The other villain however, saw what had happened and looked as if he decided to escape. Turning back to the blown exit that before had about five police cars parked in front of it, he accelerated and turned to go, throwing a hand grenade behind him to stop anyone from following him.

Flare contained the explosion and extinguished the fire just in time to see a blue force field materialize in front of the villain, making him crash into it and fall in a heap of burnt metal. He turned his head sharply to see a female figure across the field just beside some trees, accompanied by a man, who seemed to be pulling her towards a crowd of people waiting to be escorted by the police. The blue force field disappeared, and only the super who was near it felt the excess energy return to its owner, towards the very same female figure Flare had spotted before.

He watched as some firefighters and paramedics extract the unconscious villain from the pile of metal that used to be his bike. He was alive, but like his companion had suffered serious injuries.

"Did you make that blue energy field?" The police chief asked him as they walked towards the crowd of people, some of whom were being checked out by medics to take care of minor scrapes.

"No," Flare answered and looked from the chief's bewildered expression towards Lia, who was just a few feet from him, helping an old lady to her feet. "It seems as if we've got someone looking out for us," he finished.

"Well whoever it was I'm thankful, we've had enough under all our belts today haven't we? First buildings on fire, then a break in at the university, and now this," the chief went on and Warren finally turned his gaze away from Lia to look at the officer.

"What happened at the university?" he asked curiously, not having been informed by the centre.

"Oh it was a civilian dispute, so the supers weren't called for it. Someone had broken into one of the labs and stole their bio-signature copier, you know those little tools that can copy fingerprint data?" he asked and Warren nodded. "Anyway, one of the professors in charge called us in and when we looked at the security camera it seemed as if one of his previous students was the culprit. Apparently he was the one who helped to build the tool but they were never allowed to use it outside of their labs."

The chief and Flare ended their conversation when the media started to arrive on the scene, but their previous topic was not forgotten by Flare. When the chief went out to greet the media Flare made his way over to Lia, who was talking to another police officer, with Derek beside her.

Lia noticed him and gave him a smile, and looked at the little girl who suddenly tugged on his sleeve. Flare turned to look at the little girl in pigtails, and to her mother also smiling at him behind her daughter.

He kneeled on one knee to be eye-level with the girl and said, "Are you okay?" he asked as he motioned to her bandaged arm.

The girl shrugged, "I'm fine, I just got scratched by one of the flying metals, it was bleeding before but now it's okay, look," and she peeled off the bandage to show him the cut. Her mother stepped forward to apologize for her daughter's abruptness but Flare smiled understandingly. "It's nothing like those cuts you have on you. Are you okay?" the girl finished.

"I'm feeling good, thanks for being concerned," he replied and the girl smiled up at him.

"If it's not a bother, can my mom take a picture of you and me on her phone?" she asked and Warren nodded.

After the mom took the picture and thanked him, the little girl gave him a hug. Warren lightly touched her arm as she smiled up at him, she waved goodbye and skipped over to her mom.

As she held on to her mom's hand the girl noticed the loose bandage on her arm and she pulled it open to notice that the wound was gone. She nudged her mom to show it to her and her mom widened her eyes at the healed wound. Realizing what had happened, both mother and daughter turned back to look at Flare and mouthed their thanks as they waved goodbye.

Flare nodded at the both of them and turned around as the police officer who was talking to Lia before clapped him on the back.

"It's good to have you here Flare, this could have been much worse," the police greeted, and gestured to the two beside him. "I was just telling Miss Landall and Harter here that it was lucky you had time to go all the way over here after that fiasco downtown."

Derek shook hands with Flare as he greeted them formally, and then shook Lia's hand. When the police officer had to go, Warren kept his grip on Lia's hand and said quietly,

"Thank you for that Mia," he said and Lia knew exactly what he was referring to.

She smiled up at him, "Anytime."

She looked towards the exit where she could spot the little girl's back with her mom and continued, "And it was a very nice thing you did to that little girl, I'm pretty sure she now has a favorite superhero."

Flare looked at her with a slight shy look, as if Lia was a reporter of some sort, she laughed lightly.

"Well we better go, like Derek said were not even supposed to be here," she looked at him happily and then waved goodbye as Derek did the same. Flare watched them walk away then turned back to wrap up his work, hoping that there wouldn't be any more attacks that day so that he can go with Lia to the hospital later on in the night to finally take her mother home.

* * *

"How come you came back out-?"

"…I saw you on TV yesterday-"

"…Why did you-?"

"…You were awesome-"

"…So unlike the teachers here-"

"…Will you go out-?"

"...Can I have your-?"

"Alright everyone that's enough questions for now," Warren raised a hand to stop all his students from talking, and they in turn sat down quietly on their seats, unmoving.

He had to face similar questions from his three other classes, and his last class with the seniors was no different. He had planned however, to explain to the seniors the general details of how he was sent to Sky High. They were, after all, going to become his colleagues in a matter of few weeks, and they deserved to be let in on the facts.

Warren settled his eyes on Lia for a moment, and she smiled to urge him on. He stood up.

"As you may have seen from the news, I recently decided to take on field missions again. And you also have heard about my resignation effective today," Warren started as his class focused on him, some of who were restraining themselves from asking more questions. "Since you all will be official heroes in just a few weeks, I know that you deserve to be let in on what is currently happening in Maxville."

"You mean the villain Grey?" Sean blurted out and Warren nodded at him.

"Yes Sean, he's actually the reason why I was sent to work here in the first place," Warren answered as he walked down the class aisle. "Mind you, I can't tell you guys everything, especially classified information, but it all started with a mission that didn't turn out as well as we hoped…"

* * *

"We'll definitely miss you Sir," Sean said as the class piled out at the end of the day.

Warren shook his hand, "You can call me Warren Sean, and I look forward to working with you at the IAS."

"Same here, well I guess I'll see you soon then."

Sean left, and the students left to say goodbye moved forward. Lia watched them as she sat next to Alice and Nate on the front seats, and exchanged knowing glances with Alice when two of their classmates, Kayla and Ashley, came up to Warren and batted their eyelashes at him.

"So…Warren," Ashley started, keeping her hold on his hand after he shook it goodbye. "I guess I won't be seeing you at this school anymore, you know I was really sad to see you go when you were a senior a couple of years ago."

Warren nodded, and slid his hand carefully off of hers, vaguely aware of Lia and Alice's smirks just a few feet away from them. He definitely remembered Ashley and Kayla when he was a student, and he cringed at the memories of them sending him little heart-shaped notes asking him out. He shook those thoughts out of his head as Kayla moved forward and shook his hand, smiling sweetly up at him.

"Well Warren, now that you're not our teacher anymore, maybe you can take me up on an offer for dinner sometime?" she asked, her voice laced with such sweetness that Warren tried hard to keep himself from cringing away.

He managed to do half a smile but it only lasted for a second, face burning, he said, "I'm sorry Kayla, but I have a girlfriend."

Kayla and Ashley's faces fell in their disappointment, and the two walked away, after muttering their sad goodbyes to him.

Nate jumped up from his seat and clapped Warren on the back good-naturedly, "Resigned as a teacher today and already the girls are after you, I'm starting to see the perks of being a famous superhero," he grinned.

"Ehem," Alice narrowed her eyes at him and Nate's smile dropped.

The two said their goodbyes to Warren and headed down to their lockers, leaving Warren alone with Lia.

"You know I spent a good year being really good friends with Ash and Kayla, we all were sooooo into you when we were sophomores," Lia said from her seat as she rested her chin on her hands. "They didn't even make fun of me like the rest of the kids did when you rejected me, I guess they felt sorry and scared that if they told you how they felt you would turn them down too."

Warren walked over to sit on the edge of his table, directly facing Lia.

"You didn't think I was too harsh with them do you?" he asked apprehensively.

Lia quickly shook her head no, "Of course not, I just remembered our good ol' days," she grinned. "And that was fairly amusing, seeing your face burn with embarrassment."

"Glad I entertained you," he replied, crossing his arms. "Was my rejection alright with you? I might have to do that again to other girls, Nate might be right after all," he smirked a little.

Lia got up from her seat and stood in front of Warren; she placed her hands on either side of him on the desk and looked at him straight in the eye, "It was a perfect way to reject them," she said, her eyes sparkling with humor. "And I hate to admit it but you might have a point there, you know, about you being so admirable that girls will all be after you."

Warren raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh?"

Lia nodded seriously, but her eyes were still humoring him as she said in a very serious tone, "Ashley and Kayla both have boyfriends, and yet they still jumped at the chance of asking you out when they figure it's okay to date you now. Face it Peace, you're a girl magnet."

Warren put his hands on Lia's waist and pulled her closer, "I did manage to pull you in," he deadpanned.

Lia raised an eyebrow, and when Warren smirked back at her she laughed freely. Warren grinned along as Lia laughed some more, and she took a step back to clutch at her side as she felt a stitch come along from all her laughter.

"Wow, that was so damn cheesy," Lia breathed out, still chuckling. Warren shrugged but still had a smile on his face.

Lia took his hands and grasped it tight, "I'm going to miss seeing you here, especially when Boomer comes back, I don't even know where I last put my earplugs," she grinned.

"Just a few more weeks and we'll be working together," Warren said as he looked at their clasped hands. "And there's something else we can get out of my resignation from this school."

"Oh?" Lia asked curiously.

Warren put a hand on her back and pulled her in to kiss her, "We don't have to keep us a secret anymore."

Lia put a hand against his chest and smiled back at him, "There's the silver lining I was looking for... even if, well… almost everyone we know _already_ knows about us."

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Well there's another chapter finally done. I'm hoping to write out a couple of more chapters before this story concludes but I don't know when I can finish them since school is in less than a month (insert deafening boos). I hope my readers will be patient enough to wait for my next update. **

**Thanks again for the story alerts and favourites, and I'm hoping to get more reviews since I haven't gotten as much feedback lately, so I don't know if people like how this plot is turning out or not. **

**Also, I have another short story in progress apart from my other one called 'The Ring', if anyone is interested on taking a sneak peek before I post it, just let me know by leaving a review here. It's about Warren and Lia of course, but on a different timeline from this story. **

**Have a great day everyone! :D**

**Chapter Song: Waking Up by One Republic**


	20. Casting Lines

**A.N.: I wanted to try a different format for this chapter, so instead of our usual third-person omniscient narrator, we'll have both Lia's and Warren's POV. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**You learn to run, you learn to race through life**

**This unforgiving pace, these lines we're tracing to the truth**

**…All my roads leads back to you**

* * *

**Lia's POV**

June 15th, two weeks after Warren resigned from his post in Sky High, and I'm currently sitting on a seat amidst rows and rows of cushioned chairs in a large function hall. The occasion? Graduation of course. I came here pretty early to help Alice practice her valedictorian speech, along with Nate. It was quite refreshing to hear her words as event workers were setting up the stage and the chairs, and they even clapped along with us to encourage her. She's in the bathroom currently, fixing her makeup most likely, and Nate is probably nicking finger sandwiches from the refreshments table on the foyer. I'm really impressed with the decorations in this hall; along with the hundreds of fancy chairs, the stage is decorated with Sky High's logo at the front, and there were simple but elegant colors of black, blue and gold for the wall curtains and the floor. The stairs leading up to the stage was carpeted red, which is apparently a tradition, and there's a hidden entrance just by the back wall, meant for us to use when it's time to be introduced as superheroes.

I heard more people coming in to take their seats, but since the ceremony is not for another hour, most people were choosing to walk around this building, which happens to be Maxville Hero Centre. Fitting right? They always use this hall for large conventions, and Sky High graduations were always done here as another tradition. Good thing too, because I can't imagine us being formally introduced in a gym at school where most of us have experienced broken limbs and hopes of winning.

This was also the place where we had our prom about a week ago, and let me tell you, the dozen chandeliers in this hall are even prettier during the night when the windows are opened and the dark night sky is seen. Not that I only cared about the decorations, because there were plenty of other things that occupied my mind that day. A lot of other great things.

"Millie!" I heard Nathan's familiar shout and whipped my head around to see him by the main entrance with Alice. "Warren's here!"

So I stood up and walked over to them, straightening out the white knee-length dress I wore. I spotted Warren beside Alice and he looked at me for a good couple of seconds before he grinned.

I raised an eyebrow, and put my hands on my waist, "What is it ?"

"You look very nice today Ms. Landall, I hope you're well?" he answered very politely, and my mouth twitched in response.

Alice cut in, rolling her eyes in the process, "When you're done being formal with each other, we'll be inside."

The two walked back inside the hall, leaving me and Warren as we sized each other up. I noticed a large pinkish scar across his cheek, and scrunched my forehead as I looked up at it.

"What is this?" I moved abruptly to touch his cheek and he looked down at me with such a calm look that I became more suspicious.

"Just a scratch, it'll heal completely in a few more minutes," he said, taking my hand.

"Where was the attack?" I breathed out.

"Just down the street, don't worry, we caught the guy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and the good news is that he's one of the managers, he'll be able to help us once we get him to talk."

"Looks like he put up quite a fight," I mumbled as I saw another pinkish scar on his neck.

"I'm fine Mia, don't worry. We're supposed to be celebrating remember?"

I sighed, I guess I have to get used to seeing him like that, even if I'd rather he was just working a safe job. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, and felt his lips touch mine briefly before he looked at me closely.

"How do you feel?" he asked and I smiled in return, feeling the slight jitters in my core about our presentation to the hero community.

"I feel like I'm about to go on a pageant for some reason," I mused as we walked along back to the hall. "It's as if all the heroes here will watch and judge us based on what they think we're capable of doing in the next years, which I guess is part of the process, but it's really intimidating."

As I rambled on I looked at my companion to see him smirking, I poked him on the side with a disapproving scowl.

"The older supers are supposed to be intimidating," he grinned down at me. "They expect all new heroes to go through initiation, and part of that is standing before everyone to show that they can go through it. Trust me, I didn't even want to go to the stupid ceremony when I graduated but unfortunately I had to."

I huffed at his words, "Well I'll be glad when this is over, it's way too much pomp and ceremony."

An hour later the ceremony began. I got my diploma and awards were handed out, Alice said her valedictorian speech, and principal Powers did a speech as well. That was the first part of our ceremony; the academic portion of our high school career. The next was the presentation of the new superheroes. A brief intermission was called as the graduates were given time backstage to change into costume and get ready. I caught sight of my parents, my brother, future sister-in-law, Warren and his mom, and I waved at them quickly before heading to the back with my friends.

"What do you know, Boomer was right, I thought I would never get use to how confining this costume was," Nate said out loud, prompting me and several others to look at him and laugh. He wore a light yellow leather sleeveless hoodie with black leather pants, with his utility belt strapped around his waist and another utility case full of gadgets around his shoulder like a sash.

I patted him on the shoulder, "You look good," I commended him and he grinned in thanks. Alice walked over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"It's a good thing you filled out your scrawny freshman arms," she joked as he flexed his arms in reply, while I laughed even more.

Alice went back to the mirrors with me and helped to fix my hair as I sat on one of the chairs. She was wearing a tight-fitting suit made of grey leather and armoured fabric like mine. Like Nate she had on a utility belt filled with her favorite weapons and spy gear, and a domino mask rested on her head for the time being.

Alice clipped my wavy locks to the side, showing the full mask that looked as if it was tattooed on my face. The mask was gold with a slightly blue outline that reached my ears. I took the gold arm band on the table in front of me and slipped it up on my hand, pulling it up my forearm where it rested. My look was complete.

"Ready?" Alice asked me excitedly as she pulled down her mask.

I smiled in return, the butterflies were still in my stomach but I was happy. After today I would start out my career and finally leave high school behind.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

One by one my friends moved towards the curtains where the entrance to the stage was. I heard the claps and the cheers of the audience and felt my heartbeat rise. When at last the person before me alphabetically disappeared through the curtains, I readied myself. Taking a deep breath I heard my chosen name called out.

"With the power to generate energy fields, let's welcome-"

In the split second before principal Powers called out my name, I was struck with a sudden flashback of the time I first heard this name.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

"_I don't know."_

"_Yeah, me neither, all the good names have already been taken."_

"_Like Superman?"_

"_Haha, exactly."_

_Mia and Warren were in an empty park, sitting on the swings and talking about superhero names. Mia stopped her swinging and turned to her left to face Warren. _

"_Your graduation's in three years, you better think up of a name before it's too late," she said conversationally and Warren shrugged. _

"_Any other suggestions?" he calmly replied. _

_Mia sighed, they had been making up names for the past half hour, to no avail. Well, not really, Mia had a name on the tip of her tongue but didn't know whether to say it or not. _

"_Hmm…" she started. "I have one, but you might think it's stupid. Stupider than my previous suggestion of 'The Burning Man'"_

_Warren smirked, "That was pretty stupid."_

_Mia rolled her eyes, "Exactly."_

_He raised an eyebrow then smiled at her, "Come on then, let's hear it, it might be good."_

"_Alright, well remember when we were on that ferry boat a couple of days ago?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Well, before you came I was helping out Harry Cooper with the boat's supplies."_

"_You mean that kid you go to school with?"_

"_Yeah, his dad's the ferry boat's captain."_

"_Okay, so what about the supplies?"_

"_There was a lot of stuff there for emergencies, like life preservers, ropes, those sorts of things," Mia continued as Warren waited for her suggestion. "And there was this thing I saw, and I thought…this was the sort of thing that symbolized help. Like when someone calls for a superhero, they're calling for help, so I thought that that thing's name might be well suited for you."_

"_And what would this be?" Warren replied, feeling excited quite a bit. _

_Mia's smile widened as she answered, "A Flare."_

_Warren stared at Mia for a few moments, then smiled. Mia knew exactly what was on his mind so she didn't demand a vocal response. _

_Instead she went on, "Well? How about a name for me? Got anything?"_

_Warren kicked some of the sand on his feet and pondered for a bit, still bemused by what Mia suggested just a couple of minutes ago. Like her, he did have a name for her that he has kept on his mind for a while, but wasn't sure how she would take it. _

"_Do you remember what our dads used to call you when we were kids?" he started and Mia looked at him in surprise. _

_She thought about it for a moment, and the name came to her; her dad and Warren's dad used to call her 'Little Lady' when she was much younger, in reference to her perfectly good manners around the adults. _

"_You mean 'Little Lady'?" she laughed. _

_Warren grinned along with her, "Yeah, I was working around that name."_

"_And?"_

_Warren looked at her closely, "Lady Force?"_

_Silence again, and Mia smiled slowly._

_Bingo._

_ xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo_

"- Lady Force!"

After a deep breath, I started to walk forward and through the curtains. I stopped in the middle of the stage and adjusted my eyes to the spotlight shining on me. The cheers and applause greeted my ears as I held my right arm out and produced a concave force field before me. Then I made a waving motion and let my force field disintegrate in a shower of sparks. More cheers erupted at my first greeting and I smiled widely in response, squinting my eyes to see the crowd better. Right in the front were the friends that have already been introduced, and a couple of rows behind them, also standing, were my family. My mom, dad, Andrew and Julie, and of course, Warren and his mom Sara, were all cheering for me. A sense of euphoria washed over me as I made my way down the stage steps and towards the seats beside my friends, who cheered madly in front of me. I looked back at my family and Warren and gave them all a happy wave.

After everyone was introduced, principal Powers asked all of us graduates to stand up on stage once again. Grinning, I stood beside Alice, Nate, Sean, and all of my other friends. The whole audience was on their feet, clapping and cheering for all of us. Warren's smile widened when I locked eyes with him, and I knew right then that I made the right choice. I had been apprehensive, often terrified and unsure about becoming a superhero, and was quite nervous earlier on today. But at that moment, the moment when I stood beside 20 or so other new supers, with my family watching, and my awesome boyfriend cheering me on, I was a hundred percent sure that this was what I really wanted. I had a brand new costume and name, and I was ready to go out and save real citizens with other superheroes.

Game on.

* * *

**Warren's POV**

"I get a desk? That's great, it's a shame I'll have to leave this come September."

"You'll have a much bigger office in the main headquarters though, you must be excited for that."

"I am, I'm just grateful that the directors let me work locally just straight out of graduation, and with the Grey mission too."

"Oh yes, there's a meeting set up this afternoon at Room A for the assignments and patrol schedules. I won't be able to make it today, but if you have any questions you can speak to the mission manager, Flare, who I'm sure you already know."

"Yes, of course, thank you Stephanie."

I walked towards the two women and greeted Stephanie, the main secretary, as she was leaving. She said her hellos and headed towards the elevators. I looked at Mia, who was now sitting comfortably on her seat.

"Content?" I simply asked and she grinned.

"Yes, very."

I looked around at the very small cubicle devoid of any decorations, which I was sure wouldn't last very long. Mia would probably have this small space decorated by the end of the day.

I sat down on the lone chair just across from her and looked at the thin glass name plate upon her desk.

"'Amelia Landall, Operations'" I read out. "Very formal."

Mia laughed, "I wasn't sure what I would actually do here in Maxville, and 'Operations' is such a broad term."

"It means you can do pretty much anything," I replied. "Shows how much the board likes you."

Mia blushed, just as I knew she would. She would never say it to anyone else, but the directors of the IAS had a meeting with her just before her graduation to brief her in on her upcoming job. They granted her full control of which missions she would deal with, as opposed to assigned missions. She would choose which missions she would work on internationally, and form her own schedules. It was an offer only granted to special cases, and as someone who knew her true potential, I was proud to see her being offered only the best for her career. Of course, she was being so modest about it all, so I had fun teasing her about it.

"So…" I continued. "Any preference for assignment duties? Before someone grabs it at the meeting?" I grinned.

Mia stood up and walked towards the back of my chair, standing just behind me she placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "I normally wouldn't want to get special treatment, but in this case, I would prefer any job where you'll be my partner," she finished playfully, prompting me to turn my head to face her.

I looked at her closely and felt myself smile automatically, I leaned forwards and kissed her swiftly, "As you wish."

I wouldn't say no to working with her, since I knew we wouldn't get much time together once she made the move in September. A part of me was worried yes, especially since she had already been on the receiving end of Grey's revenge with terrible results, but it comforted me to know that she was better prepared and had other supers such as myself to work with her.

"You're the best," Mia said as she pulled me up, and we both walked towards the cafeteria for some coffee.

I'll definitely enjoy coming to work from now on.

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N. Finally an update! I know it's been a while since the last one, but I think you all know (especially those who write fiction here) that it's tough to update on a weekly basis when you have other priorities. But since it's the holidays, I've had a bit of time to write out this chapter and I'm halfway through the next one. Not sure if I'll finish it before the new year, but consider this chappie as a holiday present. **

**Lia's superhero name was suggested by reviewer Talis Rudair, so thanks a lot for that. Also, if anyone wants a sneak peek at another piece I'm working on, which will be a companion piece to this story (on different timelines), just drop a review and I'll send you a chapter excerpt from it, so I can get some feedback on it. (I wanted to finish this story first before I publish the next). **

**Thanks for the patience, and as always, leave a review because they make me oh-so-happy :D**

**Happy Holidays and a great New Year!**

**Chapter Song: Casting Lines by Jack's Mannequin**


	21. Run

**Chapter 20 **

**Louder, louder  
****And we'll run for our lives  
****I can hardly speak I understand  
****Why you can't raise your voice to say**

******Light up, light up**  
**As if you have a choice**  
**Even if you cannot hear my voice**  
**I'll be right beside you dear**

A red flashing light greeted him in the control room as he walked swiftly towards Zack, who was by the monitors that showed a surveillance recording from Maxville Prison for super villains. Zack turned to Warren and took in his murderous look, which of course, was expected; a half hour ago the Centre received a distress call from the prison, informing them that an inmate had escaped. What made Warren so angry was that they called an hour after the inmate had escaped, which made their help useless. By that time he had probably been off to a hideout with whoever helped him escape.

Of course, another thing that made Warren so angry was that the inmate was none other than Toxic, Grey's employee and the man who almost killed Lia.

"Nothing," Zack said as he studied the recordings. "It's as if the surveillance was frozen while he escaped, one minute he was in his cell and the next he's gone. They definitely had someone on the inside to help him."

"And don't forget, they needed someone that could heal him," Warren said dryly, as he remembered the burns that covered Toxic the last time he saw him.

"Who did you send for patrol?" Zack asked.

"Bryce and Gina, they're circling the area, but I don't think they'll have any trouble. Toxic's probably with Grey, planning."

"Have you told Lia?" Zack curiously asked, and Warren shook his head no.

"I was with her this morning at the gas station explosion, but she was off after that. She had to train a new employee at their shop," Warren replied, glancing at the other monitors that showed different parts of Maxville.

"Do you think they'll go after her?"

Warren ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He certainly hoped not. But one could never tell.

"I'll just go and let her know, just in case," he replied and Zack nodded.

Warren took the elevator down to the parking level, after speaking to a few supers about the attack at a gas station downtown earlier on in the morning. He got into his car and headed uptown, glancing at the small monitor by his stereo every few stop lights, which showed where every single one of the team was currently at. Doctor Landall was in the secret sanctum where the hidden files were, his wife was back at the Hero Centre Laboratories, Will was circling the downtown area, and Layla was monitoring the clean-up at the gas station. He was moving closer towards the blue dot that was Lia, who was off-duty for the afternoon.

* * *

He walked in to the shop to tell Lia about Toxic's breakout but he was met with a crowd of kids waiting in line. Sighing, he took a spot near the counter and sat until it was less busy. He watched as Ian took orders on the side closest to him and Lia on the other side handing  
over ice cream to customers. Warren was beginning to feel cold, which was strange considering the shop was jam-packed and it was about 30 degrees Celsius outside. The air conditioning wasn't usually that cold and he wondered whether Lia turned it up full blast that day.

Half an hour passed, and still feeling the cold creep up on him, Warren watched as the last customer left and stood up to greet Lia.

"Hey you," Lia sat down next to him and gave him a kiss, and felt his unusually cold lips. She pressed a hand against his forehead and when he replied with a questioning gaze she asked, "Are you feeling okay? You're cold. "

"Yeah, I've been feeling a little colder than usual, did you turn up the air conditioning?" he asked, rubbing his palms together to warm them up. Lia narrowed her eyes.

"The air conditioning's not on, that's why only a few people are sitting at the tables," she replied. "And even if the air conditioning's on, you would still keep warm. Do you feel sick at all?"

Warren shook his head, "Just cold."

Lia looked around the store and saw Ian inside the employees' room drinking from his water bottle. The trainee they hired left just a few minutes before Warren arrived. "Maybe we should take you back to the Centre."

"Don't worry about me," Warren said quickly. "I came to tell you something. There was a breakout at the prison, Toxic's missing."

Lia looked at him in confusion, "Toxic? But he's disabled, half of his body is burned."

Warren shook his head, "Whoever broke him out must have found a way around that."

"Grey," Lia replied simply.

"He knows that you're alive and now an established superhero, so I have a strong feeling he'll be after you."

"Who isn't after me these days?" Lia replied sarcastically and Warren gave her a small smile and took her hand. She still found it strange that it was colder than usual.

All of a sudden though, the warmth came back and she let go of his hand swiftly, as if burned. Warren felt the coldness disappear and the two looked at each other confused.

"Lia?" a voice called from the line that was slowly forming at the counter, a little boy about 8 years old looked at Lia smiling. "Can I get some ice cream?"

Lia stood up quickly, "Of course Shane, hold on a sec."

She looked around to see where Ian had gone but didn't see him anywhere. Warren stood up alongside her and said in a worried tone.

"Find that guy, something feels out of place around here."

Lia nodded and slipped inside the back room as Warren took over the counter. She looked around and Ian wasn't anywhere near, not even the bathroom, and opening the back door, saw nothing.

"Ian?" she called out. Nothing. She looked at the side wall where there were a few cubbies that housed their belongings and saw that his' was gone.

And so was hers.

She ran out quickly and fortunately Warren just finished handing ice cream over to another kid and was free.

Telling him in hushed tones about her missing bag, she became very nervous.

"Is your phone with you?" Warren asked.

"Shit, no, I left it in my bag."

"We have to go," he said urgently and Lia nodded.

She politely asked the few customers still sitting around to leave since they were having an emergency and had to close down. Everyone left without complaint and shutting the shop down, the two ran towards Warren's car.

Lia closed her eyes, exasperated.

"This is all my fault, I was the one who hired him, without even doing some background check."

"You couldn't have known he was a villain Mia," Warren pointed out. "He's young, just a student like yourself. Nothing was out of the ordinary with him, until now."

Lia stared up ahead at the road, "The GPS on my phone would register where I've been in the past few days, and I was at the sanctum just this morning, he could be headed there as we speak," her voice shook a little as she thought about the information Ian already has from her phone, and from the time spent with her over the past few months.

Warren thought about the security measures at the sanctum and felt his stomach turn as he remembered something.

"A fingerprint copier," he muttered, which prompted Lia to turn to him.

"What was that?" she inquired.

Warren told her about the stolen bio-signature copier at the university a couple of weeks previously, which could have been easily Grey's doing.

Lia sighed, "If that's the case then Grey might already have my fingerprints from that phone, and has already gotten in that sanctum."

Warren accelerated and weaved quickly through the traffic. The two simultaneously changed into their costumes as they were coming close to the area where the sanctum was at.

Warren's phone rang and he pressed on the button for its speakerphone.

"Hello?" Warren's curt voice answered.

"Hey Warren," came Will's reply from the other end."Are you at the sanctum? We're setting up the meeting earlier today. "

Warren cut him off, "No I'm not at the sanctum Stronghold."

Will replied quickly, "Oh I thought you were, because Lia just called to receive entry."

Warren narrowed his eyes and Lia opened her mouth in horror. "What?"

"Yeah," Will continued. "I authorized her entry a while ago, I told her she'd have to go through the routine stuff, bio-signature scans and all that. She said okay and that she's heading there now, I thought she wanted to see you because of Toxic's breakout."

"Will" said Warren. "Mia is with me right now."

"What?" echoed Will.

Lia spoke up with a shaky voice, "Will, it's me. That wasn't me who called you, it was Ian, he's working for Grey. "

"Damn it," came Will's surprised and frustrated reply.

Warren drummed his finger on the wheel as he stopped at a light, "Stronghold, call in a code red, we're very close to the sanctum. "

"Copy that," replied Will, who still sounded a bit off.

Lia turned to Warren and as they locked eyes, they knew perfectly well this was about to turn into a fight. They came near the secret entrance and parked the car swiftly. They got out and ran towards the entrance.

Upon seeing the old decrepit building behind a large bank skyscraper, both knew that the fight had already started. People were running out of the bank as their fire alarm started and smoke could be seen from the back of the bank building. Running, they set out towards the old building, and saw the hidden entrance in ruins. They passed over the broken body scanner, the rubble littered across the floor, and towards the elevator which was unusually unharmed. The doors opened and instead of heading just downwards, the lift moved sideways left and right until the labyrinth ended. They walked out towards a large sanctum with many different passageways and metal stairs.

"Where are they?" Lia breathed out.

"The files were this way," Warren said as he walked towards a passage to their right, Lia followed, an eerie feeling emerged and was amplified by the flickering lights above them. They reached the end of the passageway, only to find a large table where a few paper files were smoking against the far wall.

The two started as they heard an explosion from a distance, and moments later 10 or so villains advanced towards them.

Poised for attack, Flare sent out fireballs immediately and Lia with her own force fields. The two were separated as their enemies attacked, with Flare headed towards a passage to the right and Lia up a metal stairway on the left.

One of the villains shot lasers from his fingertips and Lia was hit as she was cornered by the other two villains. She saw the burn on her arm, but the wound was cauterized enough not to bleed. She backed away from the villains and made a forcefield around her for protection. In their anger, they sent out more lasers and weapons against her forcefield, none of which made it through, and Lia took the opportunity to send out energy disks. Soon smoke and flames engulfed the room, and Lia tried to make her way out to find Warren and her dad. She ran through dimly lit hallways, and when she reached a large room full of computers, she heard a chuckle.

She looked around, and saw shadows moving at the corner of the room. She produced an energy disk and held it steady. Suddenly the lights were switched on, and Lia saw two men sitting on the computer chairs to her right.

"Hello again beautiful," a familiar voice called out.

Lia narrowed her eyes as she looked at the cold, menacing eyes of Toxic, the prison escapee. He had burn scars all over his arms and half of his face, but as he stood up Lia could tell that he was by no means handicapped.

She turned her eyes to the other man near Toxic and her blood boiled upon seeing him.

"I'm sorry about all of this Lia," Ian said calmly as he stood up as well and walked towards her.

"I don't accept apologies from assholes," Lia said as she created a force field around her and attacked the two with her disks.

Toxic's knives flew out and hit the forcefield bubble, and he was surprised that it didn't disintegrate like it had during their previous meeting. Lia smirked, after that ordeal, did he really expect her not to work on strengthening her defenses?

When one of her disks brought Toxic down, Ian managed to get close enough and quickly nullified Lia. With her forcefields gone, Lia charged at the man who pretended to be her friend for many months. Powers or no powers, she had enough energy to attack whoever stood in her way.

* * *

Warren, meanwhile, made his way down the narrow staircase, and reached the computer lab just in time to see James Landall being shot at by Doctor Grey and a few other villains. He was holding a small disk in one hand as he shielded himself from the attack, and Warren saw a roll of blueprints at his feet. Sending out balls of flames in quick succession, the villains around Grey turned towards him and began their counter-attack.

"Flare! Flare come in!" came the static and powerful voice of the Enforcer through Warren's previously quiet headset. "We're in, Grey sent over more villains over here, where are you?"

"In the main room, I could use some backup," Flare replied as he dodged a lightning bolt from one villain.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dr. Landall and Dr. Grey in battle, with bursts of forcefields and small cyclones surrounding them. He immediately made a wall of fire to block himself from the oncoming villains, and ran towards the two.

Warren stopped in his tracks as he saw the two doctors stop, with Dr. Landall showing the small disk to Grey, who narrowed his eyes. Dr. Landall looked at Warren and looked down at a spot near Warren's feet. Warren followed his eyes discreetly and saw the two rolls of blueprints a few steps away from where he was standing. He instantly knew what the doctor wanted him to do.

In one swift motion the disk on Dr. Landall's hands was engulfed with a blue energy bubble and it disintegrated into ashes. The remaining rolls of blueprints were in the same state beneath Warren's feet. Grey's scream of fury followed as his eyes sought out the remains of his life work, a few bits of the blueprints still on fire near Flare.

"It's over Grey."

Grey's eyes were red with anger as he took out a device from his inside pocket. He watched as Lia ran towards them past the wall of fire she quickly extinguished, and saw a trail of bodies littered along the hallway she walked through. She looked at him intently and he smirked.

"Ahhh...the daughter, precious precious daughter. It's a pity you all will have to die today. And you Warren, I can just imagine Baron's face when he sees your obituary," he cackled.

"Enough of this Grey, surrender now, you have no other option," Dr. Landall said as he took a step towards him.

"Don't I?"

Before any of them could respond, he pressed a button on his device and activated the bomb strapped on to his chest.

The blast rang in Lia's ears as she felt herself flying back, an invisible force pushing her back meters away from where Grey was. Concrete rubble rained upon her but was stopped short by a force field surrounding her like a bubble. She looked to her right and saw Warren unmoving, nevertheless still inside their protective bubble.

Her ears were ringing as she got up slowly and surveyed her surroundings. Grey's bomb resulted in a small explosion that destroyed the whole floor. Lia crawled towards Warren and she breathed a sigh of relief when he started to rise. The side of his head was bleeding and his left arm was bent at an awkward angle. Lia found his right hand and gripped it, assuring him that she was okay.

The ringing in her ears gradually subsided as the two walked to find Lia's father. The protective shield he created for his daughter and trusted friend vanished as soon as the two walked past it. Lia's heart was hammering as they walked further to the place where Grey had activated his bomb.

She let out a gasp as she saw a piece of an arm beside a blood-covered concrete block and a part of the plastic device used to trigger the bomb. Grey's remains.

Warren held Lia close to him as they moved to the left of Grey's remains. Heart pounding even faster, Lia cried out as she spotted him.

"Dad!" she rushed towards him beside Warren.

He was lying down against a concrete block, his eyes half closed and body pinned with what appeared to be a large wooden table. The two freed him from his position and looked over his injuries. His head was bleeding and his right leg was severely burned. He was ghostly pale from loss of blood and Lia and Warren hurried to take him away from the place, half carrying half dragging him away from the devastated area.

Warren concentrated on the fire still burning in the room and extinguished it at once.

Lia's dad coughed and signaled the two to stop.

"Amy, Warren...it's okay," his voice weak from exhaustion, the two helped him lay down on a raised platform.

Warren got to work right away and tried to heal him, concentrating on his faint heart beat. James only shook his head and gently grasped Warren's hand.

"It's no use Warren, my body is broken," he managed to say in a steady voice.

"No," Warren replied quickly, worry in his eyes. "You'll be fine I promise."

"Hold on dad, I need you here, you know that right?" Lia said softly, trying to blink back the tears forming in her eyes.

Her dad nodded, his left hand resting on his daughter's as Warren held on to his other hand, sending him energy currents to heal him.

* * *

The fight was still ongoing between the other villains and the heroes, but once they heard the explosion, they knew what had happened and quickly tried to escape. However in their moment of weakness the heroes were able to catch them and bind them. Working quickly, The Enforcer, Ivy, and a few others made their way towards the direction where they heard the explosion.

"They're not responding to my pages," Ivy said worriedly as she tried to call Dr. Landall, Warren, and Lia.

Zack and Will were quiet as they ran, and when they stopped at a pile of rubble, Will worked quickly to free their way.

* * *

Lia sat cross-legged with her hands clasped together, as if praying for a miracle, which she could really use at that moment. She watched as Warren held on to her dad's hands, eyes closed in deep concentration. She could feel the energy around them, a warm force emanating from Warren's form and making its way towards her dad through their linked hands. In watching the scene before her, Lia noticed her dad's colour return to him, and his wounds slowly disappear. When she felt the energy wane, she smiled widely and clasped her father's arm.

"Dad, wake up, you're fine, Warren healed you," she happily said and when her dad opened his eyes, her smile grew wider.

Her dad looked at her, then at Warren. However, his eyes scrunched up when he looked at his healer, "Warren," he whispered.

Lia turned to Warren and immediately felt something was wrong. She rushed to him as he fell to his side, unconscious.

"Warren," Lia said weakly as she dropped next to him. Her heart was beating so fast as she turned him on his back.

She placed a hand on his cheek and her heart stopped as she felt his coldness. "No," she muttered as she proceeded on checking his breathing and heartbeat. "You can't leave me, Warren, you can't just heal my dad and leave us, you have to wake up now."

Her eyes clouded over as she felt his nonexistent heartbeat. Tears quickly welled up as she placed the heel of her hands over his chest and began performing CPR. For someone who hasn't cried in years, Lia's tears free-falled quickly on Warren's chest. She wiped her eyes as the tears clouded her vision, but they kept coming. One, two, three, four pumps on the chest, and then she moved over towards his head. With one hand on his forehead and the other on his chin, she lifted his head. She placed her mouth over his and blew once, twice, and she saw the corresponding rise and fall of his chest. When she stopped breathing for him however, she noticed that he was still immobile. She kept performing CPR, and as seconds ticked by, she slowly entered a panicked stage.

Dr. Landall watched worriedly as his daughter tried to save Warren, he tried to get up, but his limbs seemed to be locked together and his body felt very heavy. As Lia pumped Warren's chest and breathed for him for more than a minute, Dr. Landall began to think about a more risky alternative. He had only seen it work once, and it was with his father back in the day. However he looked at Warren's almost lifeless form and knew that if they didn't at least try, there would be no hope. He and Lia are not healers, but they possessed the same energy currents that could be transferred to other people. The intensity of the energy however, was greater than that of healers. Warren was unconscious because all of his energy was depleted from healing large surgical wounds on Dr. Landall. The man before him struggling to live was willing to push himself to his limits in order to save the father of the person he loved. He has never known someone as noble as Warren, and his determination to save him increased greatly. Mustering all of his will to speak out loud, he croaked out and tried to get his daughter's attention.

"Amy," he said, his voice very low but Lia heard him nevertheless. "Use your powers."

Lia stopped in the middle of chest pumps, and looked surprised at what she heard from her father. Did he mean for her to throw a force field disk at Warren?

As if he heard what she was thinking, Lia's dad continued in the same weak voice as he lifted his head with much effort, "Concentrate on lowering the energy you use for a force field, you can make a small energy field."

Lia looked at her hands, contemplating what he had said. Lower the intensity of her force fields? What did he want her to do? Become a human defibrillator?

He nodded as again he seemed to understand what she was thinking, "You can do it, try to create a disk as small as you can and it will work."

Warren's time was running out, CPR was not working, and Lia had no other choice. She was scared as hell, but she had to do it. Her tears had stopped free-falling a while ago, and she looked at Warren's pale face with fierce determination. He had been out for a few minutes, and she hoped and wished to all higher powers that what she was about to do would work.

Her hands were shaking as she placed them back over Warren's chest, but instead of pumping his heart, she concentrated on creating a small energy ball. She vaguely remembered when she was younger and small energy balls were all that she could muster. She could do this, she thought, and hands shaking no longer, she drove her hands quickly towards Warren's chest.

Lia's eyes grew wide as the energy balls were absorbed, and as if he was shocked by electric paddles, Warren's chest came up once quickly and then back down. With held breath, she waited for a sound from Warren's form. When none came, she created the small energy balls once again. Hoping with all her might, she placed the glowing blue circles in him.

* * *

Will and the others encountered another set of rubble before them, and with his strength, he pushed them out of his way. When the dust cleared, all Will and the others saw before them were Warren's lifeless form and Lia with her hands glowing over him.

Will and the others witnessed Lia as she placed her glowing hands on Warren's chest. As the light disappeared into him, they silently walked towards them, worried, hopeful, hearts beating faster as the seconds ticked by.

Before they got to the three people before them they saw Lia shift in her position over Warren. Her right hand suddenly found his wrist, and her head moved towards his'. Her ear an inch away from his nose, the others saw Lia breathe a sigh of relief when she heard Warren's steady breathing.

Will finally reached his friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to look up at him, and he saw her bloodshot eyes and tear-streaked face. Pained by what he knew she had gone through that day, he helped her up as the other team members helped Dr. Landall and Warren on to stretchers. Soon the medical team came and ushered them away from the sanctum.

He knew Lia would not be separated with her father or Warren, so he took her to the helicopter with their stretchers. The others stayed behind to finish clean-up.

Will turned to Lia and asked softly, "Lia, what happened down there? Where's Grey?"

Lia turned her gaze away from Warren's form and replied, "Grey's dead, he blew up the whole floor."

Will opened his mouth to say something but he closed it again. Their elusive villain was dead.

Lia continued when she knew Will wanted more information but was currently speechless, "He intended to kill the three of us with the bomb, only dad made a forcefield around me and Warren. Dad was seriously hurt and Warren healed him."

She turned to look at Warren and her chest tightened as she remembered him collapsing before her. Dead. That was a word that sent shivers down her spine.

"Healing my dad strained him too much. His heart stopped beating and he couldn't breathe. I performed CPR and it didn't work."

Will took her hand and he grasped it tightly, reassuring her nerves, "Lia you saved Warren, we saw what you did back there."

Lia could only look at Warren, and she grasped her surroundings for any feel of Warren's life force. She could feel his faint energy, but that was it. He needed healers, and lots of them.

* * *

She stood by the Intensive Care Unit double doors, just after she checked on her dad on the other side of the building. Her father was better, and after spending quite some time with him and her mother, she returned to the ICU, waiting for news about Warren's condition. He had to be placed in a containment chamber that was able to regenerate him through electrolyte transfers, and also assisted by the many healers in the hospital. That was hours ago, and Lia was more anxious than ever. She had already been dragged by Layla and Will down to the cafeteria just before midnight so she could get some food in her. Her friends have stopped by to check up on her but had to leave for their own missions.

"Lia?" a voice to her right said as she came through the double door entrance to the ICU. "He's finally out, you can come in and see him."

She smiled at Sara, and walked beside her to see her son in one of the rooms. Sara left her to check up on other patients and Lia sat down on the visitor's chair beside his bed.

Lia took Warren's hand and looked at his unconscious form, "Thank you Warren. For saving my dad."

"You're an amazing person, and that's why I love you so much," Lia continued as she linked her hands tightly with his'. "I really would like the chance to work with you on plenty more missions."

She smiled slightly and continued, "But these hospital visits, I really would like us to limit, you know, if we can manage it," she chuckled lightly to herself.

Lia suddenly felt her hand move, and she looked down to see Warren grip her hand tighter. Lia's smile grew wider. She moved her head closer to Warren's face and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Wake up," she told him quietly, smiling against his cheek.

As if on cue, Warren cracked his eyes open and looked at the woman beside him. He brought their linked hands up to his mouth and kissed Lia's hand. To Warren, being in that hospital bed was worth it. He had never seen Lia look as happy as she was in that moment.

Lia asked him, "How do you feel?"

He felt great; their mission was finally complete after much wounds and bloodshed. Warren grinned, an act that he noticed he was doing more of lately. But he couldn't help it, Lia's smiles were contagious, and _this _was definitely a happy moment.

In one way, he was glad he was put on the Grey mission. However long it took to be in that mission, he got a lot of things out of it. First, he learned more about his dad through Grey, and was even able to defend his father from him. Second, he had a big bite out of reality when he realized that even the most famous and powerful heroes can be grounded because they still had their vulnerabilities. Warren hated the fact that he was sent to teach at Sky High so that he could hide…he felt like such a coward. However he realized that the time off he had also helped him learn. He had to admit it, but teaching and sharing his knowledge with younger supers made him grow more as a person. He loved the feeling of being admired not only because he had brought down many villains, but because he had given others advice on how to succeed in their line of work.

But the best thing he got out of this mission?

Lia of course. If he hadn't been sent back to Sky High, they would never have rekindled their friendship, and they wouldn't have progressed to being more than friends. Warren loved her, and he was thankful of the time he had spent with her over the past few months. He looked forward to their future together, even though he knew that it would be a rough road ahead. They were finished with one mission, but without a doubt, plenty of more missions await them.

He looked forward to those, and he was sure Lia felt the same.

Warren rose from his bed and enveloped Lia in a warm hug. He felt her hands wrap around his sides tightly, as if she never wanted to let him go. He couldn't see her face at that moment, but he could just picture her with her toothy smile and even her uneven dimples. Warren held on to her for a few more moments, and when he finally released her, he saw that his picture of her face was spot on. Warren looked at her intently, smiled softly, and finally answered,

"I've never been better."

* * *

**A/N. So here's the last chapter in this story :) It took a little more than 3 years to finish this project so I'm really thankful for those who have been so patient, and have not abandoned The Mixed Tape during its run. I know I probably lost some readers along the way, but I'm happy that I also gained new readers in every chapter I put up. **

**I have an epilogue planned out for this story, but it'll be short and sweet. I'll post it up in a few days or so. Meanwhile, I would love to get feedback from all of you readers.**

**Some of the things I would like to ask are:**

**What was/were your favourite moment(s) in the story?**

**Did you think Amelia Landall was a Mary Sue?**

**Was Warren much too far out of character?**

**Where you confused in any parts of the story, and if so, which parts?**

**And any other questions or comments would be welcome.**

**But my last question would be if anyone would look forward to a sort-of-sequel to this story. It won't be a story such as this but rather a series of drabbles about the characters. I'm planning to call it "Memories". So I wanted to know whether someone out there would actually want to read that if I post it, haha.**

**Anyways, thank you very much everyone for your support. To everyone who reviewed along the way, put this story in their alerts and favourites, and to those who have listed me as their favourite author, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. It is much appreciated and hopefully I'll hear from you guys in my future projects. **

**Your friendly neighbourhood author,  
****Thelightsandbuzz :D**

**Chapter Song: Run by Snow Patrol**


	22. Epilogue: In Your Hands Now

**Epilogue**

**So I'll leave it in your hands now  
To come through**

**You're living in a world with only choices**  
**And what I choose is you**

_5 years later..._

Flare ran down a small cobblestone street, arms ablaze with red-hot flames. A few metres ahead of him was a man running away from a long line of fire chasing after him. The villain reached a short brick building, and swiftly turned around to face the fire that was about to attack him. He placed his hands in front of him in defense and out came a huge wave of water from a nearby fountain.

Flare halted when he saw his trail of fire doused with Maelstrom's water wave. Powering up, he threw fireball after fireball against Maelstrom's water attack. He was inching closer to the villain, and a few moments later Flare's fist finally connected with Maelstrom's jaw. The mass of water Maelstrom was holding splashed down on the ground immediately, and he couldn't return his hold on it quick enough. Flames were in front of his face, and he had no choice but to stand down. He was hopeful that his partner had succeeded their mission, at least if he had, their trip to Prague wouldn't have been for nothing.

As Flare put a pair of neutralizing bands on Maelstrom, a body was suddenly hurled through the air and hit the brick wall just beside the two. Both turned to look at the person, who grunted and tried to get up slowly.

Maelstrom groaned, "There goes my backup."

"Hey man, sorry, the lady got me good," the wounded villain said weakly, slumped against the rubble.

"Flare?" a female voice said from behind him.

He knew that voice. Turning around he saw the superhero called Lady Force, walking towards them, carrying a silver suitcase.

When she reached Flare and the villains, she glared at the man slumped against the broken brick wall.

"Nice trick Carter but remember your mind games only work on supers who are powered up," she said as she waved a hand at him, showing a black neutralizing band on her wrist. She took it off and proceeded on clipping it on him. Carter was much too tired to fight back so he just resorted to glaring at the super in front of him.

Flare noticed a sonic ray on Lady Force's belt and knew that she used that against Carter since she couldn't use her powers. He smirked to himself.

"So these two working together huh?" she turned to Flare who looked at the silver case she was still carrying.

Lady Force opened it and inside was two plutonium rods, stolen from a superhero centre a few miles from where they were.

"So your villain did take it," Flare said. "Maelstrom here dropped a few more of those as he escaped from the centre."

"Yeah, the ground crew saw them," Lady Force replied, and soon they heard the cleanup crew arriving on the scene.

"I didn't think you'd accept a mission all the way to Prague," Flare said conversationally as they walked away from the villains and their prison escorts.

"Well, Carter was my villain from a couple of months ago. When he escaped and was sighted here, I couldn't say no."

Lady Force continued, "Funny how those two partnered up huh? My villain with your archenemy?"

Flare smirked, "They didn't even work well together."

Lady Force smiled; the two villains were still bickering a few meters behind them.

"I'm surprised you're here too Flare, isn't today your big day?" Lady Force asked with a teasing look on her face.

"Yeah, well it won't take me long to get ready for that, I still have the whole afternoon left."

"I bet your friends are panicking as we speak," Lady Force replied, as they opened the doors to a small brick building.

"Will and Zack probably," Flare smirked as he pushed some buttons on a wall panel. The wall suddenly revealed elevator-like doors and the two walked in.

Inside the room were three teleporters, humming quietly to show that they were working.

"Well I better get going then, I might have some more things to do. Like you said, it is a big day. You know how busy it gets," Flare remarked as he typed in the coordinates to his destination.

Lady Force also did the same to the teleporter right beside his'.

"Oh you don't have to tell me," she turned to give him a small smile. "Congratulations Flare. See you around."

Flare and Lady Force stepped on their platforms, ready to leave.

Flare sent her a small smile just before he pressed the button, "Thanks LF, I'll see you soon."

Lady Force winked at him playfully before he disappeared out of sight, and she could have sworn she saw a wide grin on his face before he was gone.

* * *

"Do you, Amelia, take Warren as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for all the days of your lives?"

"I do."

"And do you, Warren, take Lia as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for all the days of your lives?"

"I do."

"May we have the rings please?"

The best man, Will Stronghold, handed the minister a velvet box containing the white gold wedding bands. The minister gave the rings to both Lia and Warren.

Lia delicately placed the ring in Warren's ring finger, and looked up at him. She could tell he was a little nervous, but she smiled at him nonetheless, hoping to calm his nerves. When he placed the ring in Lia's finger, they locked eyes with each other and Warren finally gave Mia a grin.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the minister announced to all. "You may kiss."

Warren placed his hands on Lia's waist and pulled her closer to him. They shared their first kiss as husband and wife to thunderous applause from their family and friends. Lia's hands were wrapped around his neck, and when they ended their kiss, Lia looked at him closely.

"I love you," she simply said.

"I'll love you forever," Warren pulled her in again and kissed her, reveling in the fact that Lia was now his wife.

The couple faced their guests, smiling broadly, and hand in hand, they walked down the aisle, ready for the road ahead of them.

**The End**

* * *

**A/N. Finished! Thank you all for reading this story, and I'd love to hear some reviews, especially responses to my questions in the previous chapter. **

**Since this story is finally finished, I will finally post a third story in this story-verse. The second one is of course, called "The Ring". The third will be called "Moments", and it'll be a series of one-shots starring Warren, Mia, and all of their friends. Hope to see you all readers in that installment soon!**

**Chapter Song: In Your Hands by Jason Mraz**


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